Flight and Fight
by Mossnose173
Summary: The fifth and final installment of the Story of Riley. I don't want to spoil so this is all I'll say!
1. Prologue

**Hello, hello, hello! I have not posted in probably about 5 years but, I felt I had to finally get this story out into the world! So please enjoy the last installment of Riley's story. If you've read my other works, this is the 5th story in the series; if you haven't read them, feel free to read this one on its own or go back and read the others ;). Regardless, please enjoy and let me know what you guys think! As always, give a like, follow, or comment if you want more! I'll probably be updating on a weekly basis.**

**PS this beginning quote is just something I feel like really fits Riley.**

* * *

_And if I could tell you one thing_

_It would be:_

_You are never as broken as you think you are._

_Sure, you have a couple of scars,_

_and a couple of bad memories,_

_but then again_

_all great heroes do._

_-LTN_

* * *

The constant slapping of ill-fitted shoes and the clanking of chains echo around the narrow corridor. _This is the last time…_ the man tells himself. _He promised we won't have to deal with this anymore after this._ He finds himself smiling as the guards steadily lead him through the hallway and into the large visitation room filled with unknown, unsuspecting people.

As the man goes to sit down at his stall, one of the guards shoves him roughly into the hard, plastic chair. Shaking his head disapprovingly, the man anxiously repositions in his chair, hoping his visitor arrives like promised. A man appears from the left side of the prisoner's stall on the opposite side of the glass. A quick look in the visitor's eyes tells a nervous, but excited story.

The visitor, shifting uneasily in his seat, asks "How are you, Mr. Hill?"

"I am alright," the prisoner replies. With a sideways glance at the guards on either side of him, he continues, "Have you done what God asked of you?"

The visitor nods. "Yes and I built that clock you've, ummm you've always wanted." He inconspicuously skims his hand over his right coat pocket, indicating the presence of the item to his companion.

"Marvelous! This will be grand! Exciting! Everyone will remember you after this." The visitor perks up and grows more confident with Hill's declaration. "Now tell me, how long did it take you to build it? You were always crafty with hands-on things."

"It uhhh took about… 10 minutes?"

"Hmmm are you sure about that?" Mr. Hill inquires smoothly. "It seems like something that should be done in more like 15 minutes. Don't you think?"

"Yeah I suppose so Mr. Hill. It did take around 15 minutes; how stupid of me to forget that."

"Don't worry about it Peters, you still have to install it. Remember where it goes; right in the middle of the mantle above the fireplace in my living room. Don't put it anywhere else, understand me?"

"Yes, I understand you, sir."

Mr. Hill nods slowly and takes a quick glance at the clock. _10:05…it's 10:05 now…you only have one chance here, don't mess it up._ Turning back to his visitor, the inmate says, "Well it was great seeing you again, old friend. I hope the clock works well for you; just don't forget where to put it. You'll be unforgettable."

"I won't, sir. I promise." With that said, the visitor stands and exits the stall, leaving the prisoner alone.

Mr. Hill stands and allows the guards to guide him out of the visitation room. _We have 15 minutes…let's make them count._ Walking back through the hallway, the prisoner finds they are alone. Before anyone else can arrive he swings one elbow up to hit the guard on his left in the face.

The guard falls as the other exclaims, "Hey! What do you think you're…"

Mr. Hill throws his handcuffed fists at the man sending him to the floor before he can finish his statement. While on the ground, the second guard's keys are snatched and used to un-cuff the prisoner. He rubs his wrists, grateful for the freedom, and bends down to take the cell keys. As the first guard sits up to yell, Mr. Hill kicks down at his head. Blood flows into a puddle around the guard's cranium. Just for security, the prisoner smashes down on the second man's throat, ensuring he will not get up and yell for help.

Keys in hand, the man saunters down the dingy prison corridor. Left turn, right turn, right turn, glance at the clock. _It's been seven minutes. I have to get moving!_ Mr. Hill starts to walk as fast as his limp will allow him down each hallway until his speed turns into an awkward run as his sense of urgency increases.

Finally, cell **587 **comes into view. A quick glance down the passageway tells the prisoner it's safe to retrieve his comrade. It takes a few too many seconds for the man to pick the correct key from the large ring. The trapped prisoner bangs on the cell door, "come on, you fool! An incompetent monkey could work faster than you!"

A sudden click and the door slides open smoothly. The first escapee twirls the ring of keys around his finger as he waits for his partner to get out. "Incompetent monkey, aye? I'll have to remember that one for when you mess up for two seconds!" A light feeling crosses over the men and shows the strong bond they have developed over their time spent together in this hellish place.

Stepping outside the cell, the bright blonde-haired man feels an invigorating rush of freedom. He takes a deep breath as his lungs expand and every nerve in his body comes out of its dormant state and prepares for action. His esteem and prowess show as he stands straighter and raises his chin with dignity. He has waited so long for this moment; this is the perfect time, the perfect place, and with the perfect accomplice. _This man is more competent than any I've ever had. I like him. He will do well by my side._

With conviction, the newest escapee says, "You told him fifteen minutes, correct?"

"Of course I did! I wouldn't blow this; you know how much this means to me. To both of us. I want what is mine and you want what is yours. It seems our paths cross and we cannot accomplish these tasks without each other. I'm in this plan whole-heartedly, sir."

"Very good, Mr. Hill. I greatly appreciate your loyalty and enthusiasm. Now, how long has it been?"

"About eleven to twelve minutes. We have to get going if we want to be at the right place at the right time."

The blonde man nods and allows his partner to lead him through the cryptic maze of this prison. An increase of guards is apparent as the pair works their way back toward the visitation area. _They must have found the guards I took the keys from. No matter. They are within the blast zone there._ A devious smile spreads across his face. _The more the merrier._

The duo comes to a stop near a water closet, four turns away from the fallen guards. They both look up at the clock on the wall above them. It's been fourteen minutes. A mutual nod is followed by the sudden, spontaneous crouch of both escapees. They make themselves small, unnoticeable, and unsusceptible to an attack.

* * *

The man is led out of the conference room by a security guard who doesn't give him more than a half glance._ No one _ever_ notices me._ After a series of hallways and locked doors, the visitor finds himself once again in the lobby he first entered the facility in. The security guard disappears without a word.

With a smirk, the visitor glances down at his watch. It reads 10:10. _Okay, I just need to kill about 10 more minutes._ He looks around the lobby and sees a couple dozen people, visitors and correctional officers alike, going about their own business. Visitors file in through the entrance and approach the prison staff to visit their family and friends behind bars.

_No one ever visited me like this. No one cares enough to pay attention to me even now that I'm out of prison. _He walks to the opposite end of the room, slowly taking his time, as he feels the object in his pocket._ They'll know me after this though. Everyone will know who I am after I pull this off, God will make sure they know. He's the only one who has ever taken an interest in me. I love that he has so much interest in my work. I can't wait to make him proud._

Another glance at his watch tells the man it's 10:16. _Four more minutes. They like to be precise._ He glances over at the center of the room where the administrative staff welcome visitors and direct them to where they need to go. Beyond this square of helpful greeters, the concrete wall with the prison's official name stares back at this particular visitor. _That's the spot. The center and as close to the cells as I can get now._

A long meander around the perimeter of the lobby and the man has used up another three minutes. _It's time._ He moves over to the center of the wall and looks out at the people in the lobby. Checking his watch for the final time, he sees 10:20. The man pulls out the bomb from its position beneath his shirt and holds it. No one bats an eye._ This will show them. I _will_ be remembered._ The man hits the detonator.

* * *

Bricks fly. Glass breaks. An explosion makes the mens' ears pop but they stay down in their crouched positions, withstanding the force of the blast. As the debris settles, the men walk around the corner to stand and look around at what used to be the walls holding them in from the outside world. Cries of pain and anguish fill the air. Begging and pleading surround the men; they cherish the moment of power and fullness as they look for the quickest way to exit the destroyed building.

Sirens sound and cell doors clang open. More prisoners begin to spring free from their entrapments. The sound of police sirens grows increasingly louder and the original escapees realize they need to get out now to make it out at all. Crossing the rough terrain of smoking debris and rubble, a thought occurs to Mr. Hill.

"What are we going to do about our clothes?" he asks as they walk a little faster. "People are going to get suspicious about two men in prison outfits. Not to mention this will be all over the news! People will be looking for us and we are making it too easy!"

"You're right, Hill." The blonde man looks over at his partner. "I guess we will have to get some new apparel…We might have to do something…illegal." He says with a sly wink.

A deep-throated chuckle erupts from the other man, "after we follow through with all of this, theft will be the last thing the police will want us for." The authority figure gives this man a friendly slap on the back as they continue their exodus.

Rubble turns to coarse grass beneath their feet as they happen upon the front lawn. A park across the street seems the ideal place to go as the men see police cars coming a few blocks away. The chaos limits the traffic, making the pair's escape even easier. A relatively forested area is to the right of the footpath leading into the park and the men head toward it for cover. Police cars, sirens blaring, pass them on route to the prison. Several prisoners can be seen scurrying out of the ruins like ants escaping a farm designed for the school science fair.

Minutes pass before the men realize they need to keep moving before the police think to look for the escaping prisoners. Journeying through the trees was the easy part. Finding where to go next was more difficult. On the other end of the park, small businesses lined the streets. Any one of them would be an ideal place to _borrow_ a few items from but the men won't substitute for anything mediocre; they need the perfect place. After checking each store for security measures and appropriate merchandise, they decide the perfect place should be the second store on the right of the park entrance.

Mr. Hill watches for potential witnesses while his partner ruptures the glass of the store window with a swift, powerful kick. Loud, obnoxious sirens come from within the building as the pair steps through shattered pieces of glass. The fragile barrier stood no chance against these ruthless fugitives. Realizing the urgency and rush of the moment, each man goes his own way to find clothing. In no time flat, the pair meet up at the window with their new identities and slip into the darkness of the night.


	2. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone here's this week's update! We start to see the return of my favorite characters! As always, follow, like, and review if you like and want more!**

* * *

The bell chimes its final ring and the students flood the hallways. Some go to their lockers to gather their homework; others rush out the doors as fast they can to get away from this daily imprisonment. The doors fly open and don't close for minutes as the sea of students continues to flow out. Buses fill to the brim and sidewalks are crowded with walkers and those riding their bikes.

Riley rushes from her locker to join the crowds at the doors. Unlike others, she cares about getting her work done and puts in the effort to go to her locker and retrieve it. But at the same time she can't stand being in this place another minute. This prison is nothing like her hometown school in Ohio. The people here are either too stuck up, acting like they are smarter or prettier than they really are; or they act like they know nothing and don't try. The classes are either strict and labor intensive or simply allotted time periods where one looks up at the clock and watches the seconds tick away until time is up. There are no happy mediums here like there were in her old school. Regardless of the harsh atmosphere in school, Riley looks forward to her run to the elementary school to pick Wren up at the end of the day.

As she steps out the doors, the warm sunshine soothes her and shows the summer sun isn't done throwing its warm rays down yet. The cool breeze ruffles her light jacket and she feels at peace despite her stressful day. The elementary school is only two blocks down from the high school, giving Riley enough time and distance to cool down and prepare to talk to Wren.

With the first month of school gone, her life starts up full swing and she places the events of the last four months deep within her subconscious. She doesn't think about Wren's kidnapping or His arrest. She doesn't think about her encounter with Wren's father. And she does her best to overlook the painstaking months in the hospital recovering from her incidents. Riley continues to feel the physical damage of these events. The slight limp with her right leg because of her permanently swollen knee. The reoccurring headaches and migraines because of her severe concussion. The bullet wounds that will never heal in her abdomen. The gashes that cover her skin in numerous places scar, but will never heal fully. And last but not least, Riley will always bare the branding He placed on her abdomen the first time she encountered Him in this city.

With all of these misgivings within reach of her mind, Riley chooses to ignore them. She focuses on the now; she looks forward to spending time with Wren and concentrating on bettering herself academically. And of course, she hopes to continue helping the team any way she can. She still depends on Reid for a place to sleep but works on being more independent in this big city-this big world.

Riley takes the sidewalk to the right, dodging the groups of friends chatting away. She keeps a moderate pace so as not to keep Wren waiting too long. Turning the corner around a large bush, she sees her younger brother sitting on his usual park bench reading a book. He looks up as Riley turns the corner, smiles, and closes his book. She takes her backpack off and sits down beside him.

"What are you reading this week, bud?" she asks him sweetly.

"The Hunger Games! We just got it yesterday and Mrs. Applebomb said we only have to read the first two chapters but it's really good! I want to read it all!" Wren replies with excitement in his voice. He flips through the pages of the book as he speaks.

"That's great!" she laughs, "Just don't lose that excitement for school work and you'll have no trouble getting through the next nine years of school!"

"As long as everything stays like this I won't mind!" Wren says just as excited as before. The smile fades and he continues more cynically, "Whatever gets me out of that house...School is a nice escape from there. Almost anywhere is an escape from that Hell hole."

"Hey, don't talk like that! I told you not to use words like that, Wren. I know that place is horrible but...just find better words to describe it, okay? Only idiots resort to swearing to demean things, got it?" Riley tells him, trying to throw a small joke in there to lighten the mood.

Wren looks down and mutters, "Sorry, Riley."

She runs her hand down his hair to comfort him, "It's alright, bud. How have things around there been lately?"

He pauses before replying, "not any better. Another boy came to the house last week. Now there's five boys, including me, and three girls. It's really chaotic in there Riley, I can barely get to sleep at night because the kid who sleeps in my room with me snores. Really loud. But Justin isn't as bad anymore, he spends more time outside of the house with his...friends. When he's home though, I and the other younger kids hide. He's caught Peter once or twice but we all hide better now..."

"Oh, Wren," Riley whispers as she leans over to hug him. "I'm sorry I can't be there to help you. If I could, I would...and if I had a place of my own that's where you'd be staying. Not there. I'm doing the best I can for you, but I wish I could give you more."

Wren looks up at her, "Riley, I don't blame you. I know you're doing the best you can. It's all I need right now. Thank you."

"And remember bud, if you're ever in real trouble with mother or Justin, I'm just a phone call away. If I'm around I'll come running for you, okay?" she taps his nose, making him giggle a little. "Now tell me the truth, are you eating well there?"

Wren looks away, avoiding Riley's gaze. He wants to tell her yes she doesn't have to worry about him as much. _She worries about me too much. I...I don't need_ _to eat that much. I get by and that's all I need, right? No, my stomach wouldn't_ _growl every night and I wouldn't struggle through English class with hunger pains_ _if I did. But I don't want to tell Riley that. I can't lie to her either though._

"I'm...I'm doing fine, Riley," he decides to stammer out.

"Wren. Tell me the truth. You don't look like you're really getting your share in that house."

"I'm sorry, Riley, I don't. I usually don't get enough to eat but I don't want you to worry! I'm doing just fine! I am kind of getting enough...I take what's left at family meals..."

Riley stands, slings her backpack on her back, and extends her hand to

Wren. "Come on bud, we're going to get you something to eat. Come on, I'm buying," she says with a smile.

The boy places his book in his ratty backpack and stands as he protests, "Riley, you don't have to do this..."

"No, but I want to. Come on, you're going to get something good in you."

Riley places her hand on his back and they walk away from the school district, toward the bustling city, full of promise and life.

* * *

Riley pushes the grand door open and the warm, homey smell of old books reaches her. She places the key back under the welcome mat. Reaching for the lamp near the door, she flips the switch and luminescence floods the spacious living room. Her stomach growls and her mind wanders to the kitchen. Throwing her backpack down on the coffee table, Riley makes her way to the kitchen to look for anything to satisfy the beast inside.

The fridge provides milk, eggs, cream cheese, butter, and a few obscure items like horseradish and week-old mystery meat. Nose held high, Riley looks to the pantry and finds a box of macaroni and cheese. She shrugs in approval, takes the box out, and retrieves a pot from another cupboard. Placing it on the stove and turning the heat on, Riley reflects on the team's current case.

_Someone was going around killing the prostitutes and crackheads of the_

_Oakland area. Obviously it's someone who thinks these people don't belong here anymore. How was he/she killing them again? Oh yeah, a single shot to the head._

_That makes it impersonal. This killer doesn't want to get close to his victims. And he shows no remorse; he, or she, just leaves the bodies in the alleys or on the sidewalks._

_I would look to politicians in the area who are really keen on cleaning up the area. Or canvas the area for people wandering the slum regions for people looking on with disgust or disdain. This person may be scanning for his next victim. Or, or...I don't know. Let the team figure it out. Actually, they left two days ago so they probably did already. Maybe Reid will be home tonight or tomorrow! Ugh, it's really lonely around here without him._

The water begins to boil and Riley adds the macaroni. After stirring and letting it cook for 13 minutes, the macaroni is ready to be drained and the cheese is added. Riley grabs a drink of water from the sink and sits down at the table for her high-class meal. The loneliness and emptiness of the house seeps into her as she sits alone at the table, in the dull faded light of the kitchen.

The meal satisfies her stomach, it is more than she would have received at her foster home- if she were allowed to go back. Riley picks up her dishes, takes them to the sink, and sighs. _How much longer can we live like this? I know Wren_ _needs me but I can't protect him from here. I know he's got it rough...but I don't_ _have it much better. I don't really have anywhere to stay other than here...I'm just_ _glad Reid doesn't mind. But that doesn't matter, I feel bad for taking over his home. I wish I could make it on my own, and be able to support Wren. I just...I just wish things were different._

She enters the living room, sits down on the couch, and looks at her backpack. Leaning over, she turns the lamp next to her on and enough light fills the room to be able to see everything in front of her. She withdraws textbooks and brushes through the information in less than half an hour. Her eyes scan the words and understand everything instantly. Riley shuts the book with a sigh. _Done with_ _homework. _She glances at the clock. _It's only 8:30. Oh well, I'll wake up early and_ _go for a run or something...I don't know, maybe Reid will be back later and I can_ _talk to him. No wait, I need to read Jill's research paper for her; it's not like I have_ _anything better to do right now..._

Riley places her textbooks back into her backpack and takes her phone and laptop out. No messages are displayed on the front screen of her phone. She opens her laptop, clicks on the desired document, and takes notes on it. Riley scans the words and sentences carefully, looking for any and all mistakes that can be fixed.

What feels like minutes later is hours in contrast as this lengthy paper tires her mind. The grand front door opens and shuts as another person enters the home.

Riley looks up and takes the headphones out of her ears. Reid walks in, looks at

Riley, and gives her a weary smile.

"About time you got home! How was the case?" Riley asks excitedly, setting the laptop to the side. She glances at the clock, curious to see what time it is. The grandfather clock sitting beside the front window reads 10:45.

Reid replies as he sits his bag down on the ground behind the couch and walks around to sit on the coffee table in front of Riley, "It was routine. Nothing spectacular about it this time; it was just…routine, normal, typical. I don't really have any other words to describe it."

"Ugh!" Riley exclaims as she flops back on the couch. "Everything is routine anymore! Nothing exciting ever happens! Ever since I got out of the hospital two months ago everything has just been so ordinary and plain. Go to school. Come home from school. Do homework. Eat. Sleep. Repeat! It's driving me crazy!"

"Hey there's nothing wrong with normalcy and uniformity..." Reid says with a small frown. He likes his dull, ordinary life.

"Yes there is! It's boring!"

"Oh Riley, haven't you had enough excitement for a lifetime?" Reid asks with concern in his eyes.

Riley glances down at herself and remembers everything. She remembers her terrible feelings as she was separated from Reid during her kidnapping. She remembers the torture; every second, every technique, every emotional, physical, and psychological pain she felt. And the hospital visit afterward, the pain-staking recovery only to be reverted once she saw Him again. That battle was nothing close to ordinary either; not to mention her next scuffle with Wren's father. And her second hospital visit to top it off. Her life has been full of excitement, just not the excitement anyone would hope for.

"It's..." Riley starts with a wry smile, "it's not the excitement I always expected..." she lifts up the edge of her shirt, revealing the brand He left on her. The brand she has tried so hard to forget. Her mood changes to depression and despair as she recollects his words as he bore the terrible mark into her side. "I never asked for all of this...It's not what I imagined. I never wanted this kind of life..."

"Riley," Reid reaches forward to cover Riley's abdomen with her shirt.

"I had goals and I had dreams before…before all of this happened to me. Now I'm constantly watching my back or trying to plan for the future and failing miserably…"

"Riley. Shhh. Stop and look at me. Don't dwell on this; you can still accomplish whatever dreams you've envisioned for yourself. Do not let this stop you. Look, I'm sorry I brought it up; just remember that you're safe now. That whole ordeal is over. Forget about it and…"

"Forget about it?! How am I supposed to forget about the physical damage I have to live with everyday! Not to mention the psychological damage! I can barely look at people anymore let alone get close to them and trust them! I'm a wreck,

Reid!" Riley covers her face with one hand as self-pity consumes her.

"No you're not! Think about all of those friends you've made this year. I know you've mentioned quite a few of them to me. What about Stephanie? And Jill? You can't tell me you have social issues. You're over-thinking yourself Riley.

I'm sorry all of that happened...and I'm especially sorry I couldn't stop it. But it happened and you're doing fine! The past is gone, I think it's time you start putting yourself out there and do more social things. I think it's safe for you to start planning for a future."

"Reid, I...I can't! Those people are only my friends because they haven't seen my scars! If they saw them I'm sure they would run for the hills and never talk to me again! Everyone will think I'm a freak when they see the real me."

"Why not do some kind of sport? You did how many back in Ohio? Like ten? Why don't you start by picking one of those back up and focusing on that?

You're thinking about the past too much and you just assume you're worse off than you really are. Don't think like that; you still have plenty of life left to fix what He ruined. If anyone can turn their life around it's you, Riley."

Riley smiles a small smile, "Thanks, Reid...I'll think about what you said...I really will. Maybe I do think about it too much; it's mainly when I'm alone. But, I'll take what you said into consideration."

"That's what I want to hear," her companion says as he pats her leg with a smile of his own. "Are you sure you're alright?" He pauses to yawn, "because if so, I'm going to head off to bed. It was a long trip back."

"Yeah go ahead, I'm going to close up my computer and get some sleep myself. New day tomorrow." She responds with a genuine smile.

Reid stands and heads for the stairs, "Okay, good night Riley."

"Good night," she replies as she lies down on the couch. Her eyes shut almost instantly and her dreams surround her.

Her unconscious takes her to a place she has not been to in months- the realm of her nightmares. Riley finds herself in the dark, stone cold basement where she had been contained around a year before. The wall of tools is there with every piece of equipment shining with a newly polished sparkle. The large metal door opens and He walks in, just as He had done numerous times a day. Riley backs herself against the wall as terror surrounds her. The thought of Him still frightens her. Despite her victorious battle, she would never want to meet Him again. Her thoughts have changed, she no longer has anger or resentment for this man. She realized just how manipulative and evil this man was- she realized how powerful He really was; how powerful He really is. She feared what this man could really do when He put His mind to it, she only vaguely knew what He was capable of.

The man walks over to his wall of tools and inspects each one, deciding the best to use. He turns to her with a hammer in his hand and she backs away into the corner.

"No, no, no," she whimpers aloud. In reality she may have stood up to this man, protecting her secrets. But here, in the dream world she had no advantage over Him and the terror sets in.

He kneels down beside her right knee and gives her the broadest smile as he stretches her leg out. She tries to kick him away but she is frozen, paralyzed and vulnerable to whatever he does.

She begins to scream louder, "No! Stop!" The hammer comes down on her knee and she feels the muscles tear once again. The pain encompasses her entire leg and she continues to scream for help. "No! Reid, help! It hurts! Stop, stop!" Tears stream down the sides of her face as He squeezes the bruised, swelling patella. She shuts her eyes but they continue to seep out the sides.

"Try to get out there now, Riley. Go ahead play sports" the hammer comes down. "Join clubs, make friends!" he takes another swing. "Good luck doing any of that with this." The man takes one final swing as her kneecap shatters. Bone fragments tear and sever any remaining muscles that weren't already affected by the previous hits. "Ahhh! Stop! Stop!"

Riley feels her body shaking and a voice comes through her head, "Riley!

Wake up! Riley!"

"Ah! I can't! It hurts! I can't feel it!" She shouts back.

The voice comes back, calm but urgent, "Riley, wake up! You're dreaming.

Open your eyes, Riley. You're okay."

Riley forces herself to forget the man and open her eyes. Bright light catches her eye and Reid's face hovers over her. She blinks, taking in her surroundings.

She's safe at Reid's house. Her hands are placed, grasping her right knee. She looks down at it, inspects it with her hands, and finds it fine. Her forehead is wet with sweat and her cheeks are damp from tears. She brings her hands up to wipe her face and looks to Reid.

"You were having a nightmare. You were screaming, and calling out for help," Reid explains with sympathy in his eyes. He knows what it's like to be afraid in your own mind.

"I...I dreamt I was in the...the basement again. And He...He was taking a hammer to my knee again. He was all 'try to participate in social stuff again'!"

Riley looks up at Reid with pain in her eyes. "Reid I don't know if I can.

Obviously this was a warning that I shouldn't put myself out there!"

"Don't say that, Riley. You're just nervous and your mind is taking those fears and turning them into nightmares. We just talked about it before you fell asleep, it's nothing."

"It's different here, it's not like my hometown. The people are different, the school is different, everything seems so much bigger and more intimidating!"

"Riley. I know you're not going to let those silly things get in the way. I know you don't like to think about the past, but think of all the good, impressive things you've done. Think of the good you've done. You saved Maddy. You saved

Wren. You helped to imprison Him. You basically saved Wren again by taking on his father. Doesn't the idea of a silly, intimidating school seem so unimportant when compared to these things. I know you can put yourself out there, Riley."

"I...I" she stammers, wiping the remaining tears from her cheek. "I did all of that in the past...and I'm scarred from it. No one will want to accept a freak into their pathetic, little social clique." She looks straight into Reid's eyes so he can see the internal struggle she feels.

"You're not a freak. You need to stop thinking of the bad, Riley. People will accept you despite any flaws you think you might have. And if they don't, then it's their loss. You're worrying over nothing! I don't think you have anything to be afraid of."

"Well...I could test it. No, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow after school, I can't go to soccer practice or anything." Riley looks around the room thinking before continuing, "But maybe I could go down to the gym during free period and see if anyone is playing basketball...Basketball always was my favorite." She says with a genuine smile, remembering her days playing in Ohio.

"Yeah, I'll go down to the gym during free period and see what happens."

"It can't hurt anything," Reid replies, giving her an approving nod.

"Eh! Don't jinx me. Just go to bed. I don't think I can make any more life altering decisions right now. Good night." She says with a wink.

Reid gets up with a smirk. "'Life altering'," he murmurs to himself as he rolls his eyes. He begins up the stairs, calls out "Sleep tight, Riley!" But before he can disappear into the darkness, Riley speaks up.

"Reid? Thanks for checking on me..."

He looks down from the stairs, and with a straight face replies, "You're welcome. I'll always come to help you, don't ever forget that."

She blinks and returns, "I won't."

Reid retreats upstairs as Riley lays back down, content for the first time in months. With her mind set on "putting herself out there" she feels she has a purpose, a motivation to get up and go to school. Finally her routine of normalcy is broken in a good way. For the first time since she came to D.C., Riley feels like a normal teenager. A sweet smile lingers on her face as she drifts into a peaceful sleep.


	3. Chapter 2

**Hello hello! Sorry for the late post, i'll post 2 chapters to make it up to y'all!**

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The final bell rings around the spacious gym as Riley sits on the gym floor tightening her shoes. She is surrounded by 34 other girls doing the same thing; only the other girls are talking in their little cliques about cliché things like boys and homework. Riley finishes tying her shoes, and checks her high socks, making sure there are no wrinkles. Her fingers brush against her burn scar on her left calf as the sock ends. Her hands travel further and her right hand feels the incision scars and dents left from the hammer on her right knee. Her shorts cover the gashes on her thighs, but Riley still knows they are there. Wearing nothing but a simple jersey, Riley can see simple scars along her arms, framing the long gash He inflicted on her left arm in their last battle. She rubs her back, feeling the markings left from the whip.

Riley closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. _I'm already here. I can do this. No one has noticed yet. But what if they do? What if they think I'm gross?_

She opens her eyes and stands up as others around her do. _I don't care what they think. I'm here to enjoy myself. _A simple smile spreads across her face as she goes to the ball cage and takes out a bouncy basketball.

She chooses a hoop with two other girls already shooting at it and dribbles over. They look at her as she enters their vicinity. Both girls stop in their tracks. They look her up and down and notice her scars. Riley holds her ground as they decide whether she's a threat or a friend.

One girl with dark red hair speaks first, "Hey, I haven't seen you around here before. What's your name?" Her eyes have shifted up to Riley's. Being polite, she looks away from the markings and focuses on the person inside.

"Ri...Riley. I'm Riley Walker. I moved here about a year ago."

"What grade are you in?" The second girl, a short blonde haired girl asks.

"I'm in 10th grade...I came from Ohio," Riley says with a smile. "I wanted to get that out there before that became the next question. I...I don't do this a lot...Introduce myself and all...and uhh.." she chuckles shyly, hoping the other girls find her friendly enough.

They smile and the red haired girl invites, "you're welcome to shoot with us.

We usually just mess around during free period unless one of the seniors gives us a drill to do. I'm Katie by the way and this is Carmen." Katie points to her companion who gives a nice wave. "We're both sophomores too."

"Thanks, nice...nice to meet you," she says with a relieved smile. A great weight seems to be lifted off her shoulders as she enters the paint and shoots freely with her new friends.

As the period comes to a close, Riley follows the other two girls back to the ball cage to return her ball, then to the locker room to change back into regular clothes. The rest of the occupants of the gym merge into a crowd with Riley's new trio. Many look down at her legs while some look at her arms and back. A tall, lanky brunette girl cuts her way through the crowd to walk beside Riley. Riley looks up into her disapproving gaze, clearly recognizing her as one of the superior seniors of the team.

The senior pulls back Riley's jersey to see more of her back as she asks snottily, "what happened to _you_?"

Riley reaches back and politely removes the girls hand and replies, "I'd rather not talk about it." Riley looks to her new friends for help but they look back with wide eyes of fear. They obviously feel inferior to this girl as Riley does and decide it best not to interfere.

"Ew, is your calf burnt! That's totally gross!" The senior exclaims, gathering the attention of most of the other girls.

"Yeah...it's a...it's a burn scar." Riley says impatiently, growing tired and angry with this stuck-up snob.

"Ha! Where did you get that? Did you fall into a fire or something? Were you a little clumsy and fell into a fireplace?" She sneers.

"No, I did not fall into a fireplace." Riley replies shortly.

"Aww I think you did! Your parents weren't watching you closely enough and you fell into the fireplace, little girl! Now your leg looks all crispy and disgusting!" The senior's gaze travels to Riley's right leg. "And what happened to your knee! That's so-"

"Just shut up! I know what I look like!" Riley snaps. The crowd stops, dead in their tracks, around the conflicting pair.

"What did you say to me, little girl?" The senior retorts. "You don't talk to me like that. I'm the captain of this team and you will respect me. First step of respecting is by telling me what happened to you. You little weirdo."

"I don't need to tell you. It's my story and I want to keep it to myself," Riley states, proudly standing her ground.

The senior pushes Riley's shoulders and Riley stumbles backwards, but regains her balance in a second. "Tell me." The senior's voice is a promising threat.

Riley sneers, "Fine. You really want to know? You want to know why I'm such a freak? I was tortured for a week. You saw that burn on my calf? He used a blowtorch to do that. My right knee? That's how the doctors made it look after he smashed my knee cap with a hammer after I tried to run away. You noticed the marks on my back? I was suspended with chains from the ceiling and whipped until I lost consciousness." Riley lifted her jersey, exposing her bare stomach. "See the bullet hole? I took a bullet in the stomach to save my friend's life." Riley keeps her brand hidden as best as possible as she lets her jersey fall back against her abdomen. She didn't want to have to explain that to more people. "You don't deserve my respect, bitch. I'm more of a 'captain' or a leader than you will ever be.

I've saved peoples' lives and if this is the kind of treatment I get for it." She looks around at the awe-struck crowd around her. "Then screw 'putting myself out there'."

Riley drops the ball to the ground and pushes her way to the locker room, ignoring the looks of surprise and sympathy from the people of the crowd. Riley didn't even take a moment to enjoy the look of utter astonishment on the snotty senior's face. No one knows how to react, they all stand around staring at each other. Some give dirty looks to the senior in the center, looking scared and guilty. One looks on at the door to the locker room with a different kind of surprise. An overwhelming sense of relief rushes over her and as she watches the door shut, a small smile spreads across her face. She knows what she saw on the opposite side of Riley's abdomen. No one else noticed it but her, perhaps because she was expecting it to be there.

In the locker room, Riley changes quickly before anyone else can come in.

She walks out of the locker room and lets out a big sigh. _That could have gone better. Much better. Well, I guess I can cross basketball off my list of things to do here..._


	4. Chapter 3

**As promised, here is the next chapter! As always, let me know what you guys think!**

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Reid walks through the double glass doors like any typical day in the office.

The team has just returned from a case- that means there will be plenty of paperwork that needs done. Reports and statements are required from everyone involved. Reid finds this part of his job tedious, but less stressful than being in the field.

The large, spacious room looks as ordinary and natural as it does every day.

Workers sit at the desks typing reports or talking on telephones. Morgan and

Prentiss sit at their cubicles in the large room and Reid assumes Rossi, Hotchner, and J.J are all in their individual offices. He sets his bag down beside his desk as he takes a seat and moves forward.

Morgan looks around the wall and says with a wink, "You're a little late,

Reid. Late night?"

"No, Riley had a...she had a nightmare last night and it woke me up. Then it was hard to get back to sleep," Reid replies plainly with faint rings around his eyes.

"What was her nightmare about?" Prentiss asks with concern. She peeps over from her cubicle on the other side of the aisle.

"It was about Elizabeth again. I told her before that I thought she should put herself out there, do more sports or activities in school, but she's afraid people will think she's an outcast or something. So she had a nightmare where He was threatening her not to. I calmed her down and she resolved to not let it stop her from getting out there, but we'll see…" Reid explained.

"Why is she so afraid of putting herself out there? She's a great girl, she has so much potential to do so many things!" Prentiss exclaims.

"That's what I keep telling her but she doesn't see that in herself. She only sees her scars."

Morgan shakes his head. "That's a shame. I know it's hard, but she needs to look past that."

"I know. She knows. She just needs to do it," Reid replies in a monotone voice. His fellow agents turn back to their desks and continue working. Reid gets his own paperwork out and begins his routine tasks.

Typical work hours pass smoothly, lunch hour comes and goes, and the team is back in their cubicles. It's 3:00 when a voice comes from the upper platform,

"Turn that T.V on now!" Reid looks up to find Hotchner staring down with a stern, demanding glare. Confused, Reid looks to the T.V displayed on the wall by the windows looking out at the Quantico horizon. A lower-level staff member turns the T.V onto the local news station and the volume rises. A scene of helicopters circling around a stone-walled prison is displayed on the screen.

A reporter appears on screen, saying "Late last night, a bomb went off at the Baltimore State Correctional Facility. There are currently 27 casualties, both penitentiary officers and prisoners. Meanwhile dozens of prisoners have escaped and only eight have been found. If you have any information on this incident or where the runaway prisoners have gone, please call your local police. More information on the escaped prisoners will be released at a later date." More scenes of the destruction come across the screen as other reporters repeat the same information over and over again.

Reid looks up at Hotchner, standing on the stairs with authority. Hotchner looks down at his team and nods, "Conference room. Now."

The trio leaves their individual cubicles and rush up the stairs to the conference room. Agents J.J and Rossi follow close behind them as they enter to find Hotch and Garcia already there. Everyone takes a seat and looks to their leader.

Hotchner speaks up with his deep, smooth voice, "We all know what this means, don't we?"

"He's escaped," Reid replies solemnly.

"Why are we just now hearing about this?" Prentiss exclaims outraged.

"Press are probably just getting the full story from prison officials—if they leaked the story too early it could have created mass panic. They didn't know how many people escaped; they had to analyze the damage first," JJ inputs.

Morgan hits his fists on the table, "How did this happen? Why did they allow this to happen? Don't they know what dangerous criminals are locked up in that place!"

"He outsmarted them," Hotch shakes his head and looks to Garcia. "Find the names of prisoners in His cell block between now and oh, since He arrived. He had to have had help. He's smart, but He's not that smart."

Garcia nods and her fingers type furiously against her keyboard. "Alright, not too many names here, they obviously didn't want to keep too many people around him. But they typically put the new prisoners in his cell block, at least for a few days it looks like. And oh, oh no..."

"What is it, Garcia?" J.J asks.

"Well Mr. Hill, Wren's father stayed in the same cell block as Elizabeth for the first two weeks. Their cells were side by side."

"Dammit," Morgan shouts as he stands up to pace.

"According to this map, it looks like the bomb was a good enough distance away from His cell that it would destroy walls near it but not the actual cell," Reid reported, glancing at the schematics of the building.

"How did they even manage this? To plant a bomb outside of the cells...how did they get it out there?" J.J wonders.

"We can't think about that right now, leave that to the officers working at the prison. We have to focus on these two, we know how dangerous they can be. He's already got out, we can't help that now. We need to know where they're going," Hotch announces.

"He has to want to get His revenge on Riley. What else could it be? The last thing He did before He went in was try to kill her, of course He's going to want to end this unfinished business," Rossi puts in.

"But there's another factor now; is Wren's father with him? Because if he is then the pair would be going for Wren as well. His father isn't 'finished' with him yet either," Prentiss adds.

"We need to get those two to a safe-house as soon as possible. This incident happened last night, who knows where this pair could be by now," Hotchner commands. "Reid, call Riley and find out where she is and tell her to get Wren."

Reid nods, takes his phone out of his pocket and gets up to stand by the door. As the other agents discuss possible safe-house ideas, Reid dials her number. The phone rings in his ear. One ring. Two rings. _It's 3:20, she should be out of school by_ _now._

A familiar voice comes through the top slots after the third ring, "Hello?"

"Riley! Listen, where are you? Where's Wren? We need-" Reid replies anxiously.

"Woah Reid, slow down. I need to get to a doctor's appointment, talk quick and simple. What's wrong?"

_Right, she has a doctor's appointment! _"Just tell me where your doctor's appointment is and I'll meet you there. It's important."

Reid can practically hear her roll her eyes on the other side of the receiver before she replies, "It's that building attached to the hospital I stayed in-I don't remember the name. I just know you turn down the street the hospital is on, then go past the main doors and into some clinics office. Why do you need me? Is there a case?"

"I'll meet you there. I'll explain when I see you. Wait, where's Wren? We need him too."

"He's with me, we were going to get something to eat after my appointment.

Reid, tell me what-"

"Okay, I'll see you there Riley. Go straight there and wait for me."

"Reid! Tell me what's-" her voice is cut off as Reid hangs up.

He turns back to the team and says, "Riley said she's on her way to a doctor's appointment in a building next to the hospital. She has Wren with her."

"Alright, Reid you come with me to get them," Hotch directs. "J.J and

Garcia, get a hold of contacts or look around for possible safe-houses for them to stay in. Look for two, we may want to separate them, that way they won't both be at risk if one place is attacked. Rossi, Morgan, and Prentiss, start working out where the runaways could have gone, and what their next move is. We don't have a lot of evidence to work with here so there's not much we can do other than speculate. Also, J.J, get a hold of the person in charge of leading the search for the escapees. We need a reason to be working this case; we can't just intrude. Any questions?"

No one speaks up to object. Hotch nods and dismisses with a quick, "Good, let's go." At his command, Reid, J.J, and Garcia stand to go to their assigned jobs. Rossi, Morgan, and Prentiss stay seated; their task can be done here at the table. Reid hears them discussing ideas as he goes down the stairs into the "bullpen" area. Hotch is close behind him as he approaches the elevator. The doors slide open to reveal an empty cube. The pair enters silently and patiently awaits their arrival at the bottom.

The thought of telling Riley He has escaped troubles Reid. _She thought this was over. She was finally going to get back out there and now this happened. We can't let Him get to her. _I_ can't let Him get to her. I let her down once before. I can't let it happen again; I won't let it happen again._

Reid's thoughts are interrupted as the doors open and the pair moves quickly to their destination. There is no time to waste; He is out there and undetected.

Right now He's ahead of them; they can't fall behind in this race.


	5. Chapter 4

**Hi everyone! I haven't updated in a while, but I finished the story so i'm just going to upload the rest of it. Enjoy!**

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Riley looks down at her phone as the call display disappears and reveals a simple, purple background.

"He hung up on me! What a jerk!" She says with an innocent smirk, trying to play off his serious tone as nothing to be concerned about. She sticks her phone into her back pants pocket and continues walking with her companion.

"What's wrong, Riley?" Wren asks.

"Reid just called and asked where we were going so I told him but he wouldn't tell me why he asked. He sounded kind of..." Riley trails off as her phone vibrates once more. She pulls it out and says without looking, "Hang on, he's probably calling back to tell me what's up."

She looks at the display and is concerned rather than comforted. A new email appears. The name of the sender makes her jaw drop- Dear Old God. She opens the email and stops in her tracks.

Are you lonesome tonight, do you miss me tonight? Are you

sorry we drifted apart? Is your heart filled with pain, shall I come

back again? Tell me dear, are you lonesome tonight? "Are you

lonesome tonight?" -Elvis Presley. Don't worry Riley, we'll be

together again soon enough. :)

Wren walks three more steps before he realizes Riley is no longer following.

He looks back to find her face pale and her body immobilized, staring at her phone.

He walks back to her, "Riley? What's wrong?" He puts a hand on her arm and she jumps.

"What? Oh! Noth-nothing, Wren." Riley says quickly, looking over her shoulders. Riley closes the display and sticks her phone back in her pocket. "It's nothing to worry about. We, we're just late. Come on, we have to hurry." Riley continues down the sidewalk toward the hospital at a faster pace. Wren struggles to keep up but she doesn't notice; she's more concerned about the people around them.

She continuously looks across the street, at the people driving by, at the people loitering around at stores. The fear she experienced in the nightmare the night before, returns. Anyone could be Him in her eyes. _How...how did He get out?_

_Where is He now? That's why Reid was concerned about finding me! God dammit_

_Reid why didn't you warn me! Oh no, oh no. What if He finds me before Reid does?_

Riley picks up her pace until she's practically jogging down the sidewalk.

People passing by give her curious looks but continue on with their mediocre lives.

Wren can't keep up anymore. His shorter legs are preventing him from keeping the same pace as the older Riley.

"Riley! Slow down!" he calls pathetically as he walks quickly after her. His patience wears thin as his legs grow tired.

She stops and turns back to let Wren catch up. His panting makes her feel guilty. "I'm sorry, Wren. We'll go slower, I'm just a little...concerned about something right now." Riley puts her hand comfortably on Wren's backpack and the pair walk quickly, but slow enough for Wren to keep up.

"Tell me what's wrong, Riley. I saw you weren't too happy that second time you took your phone out. Was it Reid? What did he say?" Wren asks with a young child's innocence.

Riley looks down into his puppy dog eyes and realizes she can't hide this from him- he was involved before, he will be involved now- whether she wants him to be or not. With a quick look at the people around her, Riley says, "Do you promise not to get upset? Will you stay calm and collected for me? Just know we're almost to the doctor's office and I'm not leaving your side okay?"

"Okay, I promise! Just tell me!" He whines.

Riley looks around at the people around them and hesitates before explaining, "That man who took you before- that really bad man who took you to get me to come to Him. I think He's...I think He has broken out of prison." She sees his pupils dilate and his mouth open for a deep breath. "Shhh it's alright.

We're going to be alright. I think that's what Reid called about. He's on his way to get us, alright? We're going to be fine. We're only a block away from the doctor's office and we'll be safe there until Reid comes."

"Riley! Where is He! What does He want! What...what...Riley, I'm scared!"

"Shhh, Wren we're alright." She pulls him in closer to her side as the doctor's office comes within sight. "Look we're here now, we're going to be safe.

The agents are going to find that man before He gets us. They're not going to let anything happen to us and I'm especially not going to let anything happen to you, you hear me?" They reach the steps of the office and the pair stops. Riley grips Wren's shoulder and says with sincerity, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

Wren takes a deep breath and nods his head. Worry still clouds his gaze but his heart is comforted by her words. He knows she won't let anything happen to him. She's always been his protector, why would she let him down now?

The pair enters the doctor's office and carefully takes in their surroundings.

Several people sit in assorted chairs around the room; none pay any attention to the children as they enter the building. None of the other patients strike Riley as dangerous or suspicious. Looking at the available seats, she finds the back corner facing the front door an ideal spot.

"Go sit in the seat in the back corner, Wren. I'll be right there, I have to check in first, alright?"

Wren nods solemnly and follows her order without question. Riley walks straight to the reception desk and checks in. She receives the conventional "The doctor will be with you shortly" response and takes her seat in the back corner with

Wren. Riley takes her backpack off and places it at her feet.

"Why don't you get your book out, bud? We might be here a while. It'll help get your mind off things." She ruffles his hair with a smile. "Go into your world there, I won't mind."

The boy gives her a small, shy smile before taking _The Hunger Games _out of his backpack and getting comfortable in the waiting room chair. Riley leans forward and tries to relieve her throbbing headache. After no success, Riley sits back, crosses her arms and watches the door. Either Reid or He will come through those doors; Riley has no idea who will come through first. Every time the door opens her eyes widen and she prepares for the worst. And every time she is relieved to see another ordinary person walk in and sit down in a chair around her.

Thoughts of anger and uncertainty race through her mind as she sits with impatience and anxiety. _Why didn't Reid tell me it was Him? He should have told_ _me! I have a right to know! I shouldn't have had to find out the way I did. Oh he's_ _going to get it from me when I see him next...If I see him again. _Riley glances at her watch. _It's been 20 minutes. Why aren't they here? Maybe I should call him..._

As she reaches for her phone, the door opens.


	6. Chapter 5

Reid and Hotch walk in and look around. A quick sense of relief passes over Riley. Knowing she's safe, her resentment for Reid's secret-keeping returns. She makes eye contact but keeps a hard face and signals for him to come to her.

Reid can sense her anger as they make eye contact and is confused by it. Despite her hard look, he couldn't be happier to see her. He allows himself to smile as he comes to stand beside her and she rises from her chair.

Before he can get a word out she gives him a soft but thorough slap on the arm. In an intense whisper Riley says, "Wipe that smile off your face! You have a lot of explaining to do, Reid."

Rubbing his arm, Reid gets serious, "Riley, I'm glad we found you. There's something...something we have to tell you..."

"I know, Reid." For the first time she breaks eye contact with him to look away. She pulls her phone out, taps the screen a few times and holds it up for the agents to see. Her gaze softens to a poignant and woeful look as the two regain eye contact. "Why didn't you tell me on the phone? Why did I have to find out this way? You should have told me earlier."

The agents read over the message and understand her fright and anxiety.

They know He's coming after her for certain now. Reid remembers the last time He contacted her this way. It almost tore the two of them apart. He becomes determined not to let that happen again.

"Riley, I'm...I'm sorry I didn't tell you on the phone. There just wasn't time..."

Her anger returns as she retaliates, "Don't give me a crap excuse like that, Reid. It only takes—"

A nurse opens a door leading to a hallway and calls Riley's name, interrupting her rant. She grabs her backpack and nudges Wren to finish the sentence he's on, indicating that he's coming in with her.

She turns toward the agents, "He's coming with me and so are you. I'm sure as heck not leaving him out here by himself and I'm not done with you two yet." One can almost see steam billowing from her ears.

Wren packs up his stuff and Riley ushers him through the corridor into a smaller examination room with the agents following behind her. The nurse shuts the door, ensuring the doctor will be with her in a moment, leaving the group alone. Wren sits in a chair in the corner and continues his book. This conversation is for the adults, he figures; it's like he's not even there.

Riley turns back to Reid and continues, "I've been jumping out of my skin worrying He was going to get here before you two lollygaggers could find me and now Wren knows. I couldn't keep something like this from him; he's involved too,

God knows about him and will not hesitate to use him against me again."

"That's not the only way he's involved, Riley..." Reid cuts in weakly.

Her face turns red with growing animosity and goosebumps pop up on her arm."What?" is all she can get out as annoyance and anxiety overwhelm her.

"He isn't the only one who broke out last night... Mr Hill did too."

"Jesus Christ, Reid!" Riley yells as she slams her hand down on the padded exam table, startling Wren. "Is there anything else you forgot to mention? Is Satan himself out to get us too?!"

"Riley, you need to calm down," Hotch speaks up from his spectating position. His voice has a hidden command behind it, but Riley ignores his tone.

"Calm down? How can I calm down when He's out there with, with" she glances at the curious-eyed boy behind her before continuing in a whisper to stay out of range of Wren's hearing, "you know who. How am I supposed to be calm and keep Wren and I safe? I can't...I don't even know how to keep myself safe, let alone Wren, let alone both of us! How can I stay calm when everyone and everything is out to get us?"

"I'm not." Reid states plainly. "We're not. Riley, we're going to help you," he attempts to chuckle to lighten the mood and calm Riley down. "You don't think we'd just come to tell you bad news and leave you alone to fend for yourself did you? You know me better than that Riley; you know I wouldn't do that to you. I would never do anything to hurt you. I know you're scared right now. I know you are because I am too. That's why we've got the team looking into safe houses for you and Wren to stay in until we find these two."

Riley lets her anger subside. _He's doing all this for me. He...he should have_

_told me but...but he's going to help me. I have to understand that he's helping me._

She lets a small smile dance across her face.

Looking up to Hotch she asks, "You guys are really going through all this trouble for Wren and me?"

"We know how dangerous these two are...and we're not really on a case right now. Like Reid said, we can't just let you fend for yourself…" Hotch stammers out his response, surprised she wouldn't think they would help.

Riley scratches her head and smiles a smile that could light up the room,

"Thanks guys...really...it…it'll be a lot easier with your help," she finishes with looking down at the floor, embarrassed.

A knock on the door startles the group and all members turn their heads to the opening door. A doctor walks in, and asks routinely, "Riley Walker?"

"Yes, come on in Dr. Clements, I was just...having a conversation with some friends of mine. Sorry about that..." Riley apologizes as she hops up onto the exam table. She looks to the agents standing between her and the doctor before thinking aloud, "Uhh, why don't you guys take Wren and wait outside the room?...I think

I'd prefer that."

"It's no problem if they want to stay Riley, this is just a check- up, nothing too invasive or personal," Dr. Clements puts in, walking around the agents to the desk on the opposite side of the room across from the table.

"Yeah, but it's just getting a little crowded in here..." She looks to the agents, "I'll be fine if you guys wait outside. Just wait in the hall for me, it will only be a few minutes."

Reid nods, understanding there's nothing to worry about, "Alright, we'll be right outside the door." He gives her a look so she knows she's not alone. "Wren, you want to come and sit with us?"

Wren looks up and rolls his eyes, "It doesn't sound like I have much of a choice."

As he grabs his bag and walks over to the agents, Reid looks at Riley, "I see you're passing on your great attitude to him."

Riley laughs for the first time in what seems like an eternity, "I have that effect on people," and tussles the little boy's hair. Wren lets out a giggle too; he looks up to Riley and sees how much of an inspiration she is, he wants to be just like her when he gets older; carefree yet responsible.

The trio exits the room and the doctor looks down at his clipboard. "Alright talk to me, Riley, how have you been?"

"I've been alright, nothing has really been bothering me physically...my knee gets really tired if I'm standing or walking for long periods of time but I don't think it's anything to really worry about. I just have to sit more than I used to."

"Why don't I take a look?" He walks over to stand beside the table and Riley turns to sit on the edge. "Alright, now extend." Her leg moved outward, shaking with the effort.

"It seems that the muscles are weak; that's why they fatigue so quickly. I would recommend doing some regular physical activity to keep these newly repaired muscles strong."

"That's all? Just get regular exercise?" Riley asks skeptically.

"That's all you really can do. There's no magic fix to instantly make your knee exactly how it was before all of this." He bends and straightens her knee. "Feel how loose the muscles seem? Feel how they seem to wear after just a few movements? If you strengthen them, it won't feel so bad. I almost guarantee it will be a struggle to get your leg back to its original capacity but don't worry, you won't injure it. The muscles are completely healed; with that said though, don't overdo it. They can still tear or be overstretched like any other person's can. Just be aware of the difference between pain and discomfort."

"Thanks, Dr. Clements. That...that helps more than you think," Riley says, thinking of her experience with "putting herself out there."

"I recommend getting some regular exercise into your daily routine. Start with some easy stuff, walking, non-impact exercise, those sorts of things, then work your way up to more strenuous activities like contact sports, long distance running, whatever you want to do. That shouldn't be too much trouble to work into a daily routine right? You have time in your day to do this? No big plans or activities to stop you from starting?"

"Uhhh nothing I can think of. Everything is pretty mundane these days, I usually have some free time after school I could start getting into working out more again, I guess," Riley responds hesitantly.

"Well great then!" He says, looking at her expectantly.

"Yeah so that's really all I can think of right now. Sorry this was kind of a waste of an appointment."

"Certainly not, Riley. I am here whenever you need me. Just let me know if you ever need anything."

"Thanks again doctor," Riley says uncomfortably. _He's being a little clingy,_

_It's weird. I don't like it. _She goes to grab her backpack as he nonchalantly asks, "So do you have any big plans for the school year? Taking any vacations or just traveling soon?" while moving to open the door for her.

_It's the beginning of the school year; why would I be going on vacation? It's September, who goes anywhere in September! He's really starting to freak me out today… _Despite her discomfort, Riley gives him a nervous laugh and replies, "Ha, no. I'm just trying to get all of my homework and stuff done. You know how high school is."

"Oh yes, I've been there," he laughs confidently as the door opens. Riley walks out into the hall and breathes a sigh of relief; the sight of her comrades comforts her as she is finally able to get away from the intense doctor.

Wren looks up at her and smiles as she enters the hall, the doctor close behind her. As the agents move from their stagnant positions against the wall, Hotch hears the buzz of his cell phone in his jacket pocket.

He opens the phone with his routine greeting, "Hotchner," his voice a deep, resonating sound. The connection in the building begins to falter as he continues,

"JJ? Yes I'm still here, what do you have?" He takes a second to listen to the other speaker and nods. "Sand Creek Cabin? Is that...the..." He pauses to listen again.

"Good, got it, 35, I understand. Thanks JJ."

Hotch hits the end button and turns back to the group, expecting Riley to wrap it up so they can leave. They had somewhere to go now, somewhere to hide.

Somewhere safe, where He would never find them; or at least somewhere to keep the pair away from danger long enough for the agents to catch the two escapees.

"Okay, thanks again doctor, I'll let you know if there is anything else I need!" Riley says, walking away quickly to increase the distance between them faster. She puts her arm around Wren's shoulders and guides him out quickly as well. Reid and Hotch follow so that the entire group is walking down the hallway and out into the waiting room they met in only 30 minutes before. Riley glances back to see the doctor has vanished into another room. She takes a stop at the receptionist's desk to do her routine after-visit business while the others wait by the door.

Riley lets out a sigh of relief and tension as she meets back up with the group and they leave the building.

"What's with the big sigh?" Reid asks, glancing back at her.

"Its…nothing. I don't know…I don't know if it's just because I'm stressed about all of this going on right now or what, but Dr. Clements felt a little…clingy today. He like asked me if I was going on vacation or if I was traveling soon. Why would I be doing that at the beginning of the year? I mean, he's a nice doctor, he obviously cares about me—we've been together since that first hospital visit, but it just felt like a really weird question. Am I overreacting?"

"I think you're brain is just hyper alert right now. It's looking for things out of the ordinary, even if they aren't that strange; you're looking for reasons to panic and take action, but you need to stop worrying. We're going to get you guys somewhere safe."

Riley nods and the group fall silent as they continue down the sidewalk. No one knows what to say; what is there to say? _Okay, what are we going to do? Get to a safe house and then what? Sit around and twiddle our thumbs until the fugitives turn up somewhere? How long will that take? What am I supposed to do in the meantime? Absolutely nothing? I can't just sit back and let things happen, there has to be something I can do, but what?_

"So where are we going anyway?" She finally asks, needing to talk aloud so she wasn't left alone to her own dark, dead-end thoughts.

"Well right now we are going to the car…" Reid begins to answer, staring straight ahead, looking for the vehicle.

"No, I mean more long term than that. You know, where are we going to hide? We need somewhere safer than what we already have."

"It's a place called Sand Creek Cabin; it's off route 35 to the north in Maryland. It's pretty isolated and far away from the city," Hotch returns, understanding he's the only one who knows about it so far. The vehicle comes within sight and the group crosses the street to reach it. Hotch speaks up again, "It would be ideal to find two safe houses though and keep you two separated…"

"No!" Riley cuts in, practically screaming. "I'm not leaving Wren and he's not leaving my side. Wherever he goes, I go; and vice versa."

The group reaches the car and Riley holds the back door open for Wren to crawl in while the men sit up front with Hotch behind the wheel.

The car starts and so does Reid's mouth, "Be rational, Riley. This way if they find one of the places only one of you will be in danger. It just makes more sense…"

"It makes perfect logical sense, but I don't care. I'll take my chances of me being found alone, but I will not put him at risk of being found alone. If we're found, then we're found together. I want to protect him; I'm sure there will be guards at the safe house but I want to protect him myself and I can't do that from separate places. No. No way. We are staying together and that's final."

"Are you sure? Nothing will change your mind? There will be plenty of professional protection at each safe house. You don't have to take it upon yourself to worry about protecting him," Reid rebukes, looking back at her as the car cruises through the city.

Riley looks over at the boy sitting beside her; she sees his need for her in his eyes. What if his dad got to him instead of her? What if she wasn't there to protect him? _No._ She can't let that happen. _I promised him nothing would happen to him and I intend to protect him with my life._

Riley puts her arm around his shoulders and holds him tight against her as she replies, "Yes. I'm positive. We're staying together no matter what."

Wren feels a sense of pride and hope blossom inside of him. He wraps his arms around Riley's abdomen and feels comforted. He knows she won't let anything happen to him while she's around. He's never felt safer than when he's with her.

"I want to stay with Riley," Wren squeaks before anyone else can get a word in.

Reid shakes his head and resigns, "Alright, we aren't going to make you two separate if you don't want to. It looks like you're staying together."

The two kids are smiling at each other, savoring their victory when a thought occurs to Riley. _Clothes. Food. Supplies._ She speaks up, "Are we going straight there? Or can we stop somewhere first? If we are going to be staying there a while we better have the right supplies. We're gonna need food and clothes and whatever else a safe house needs."

"There is probably already going to be food there but meals will also be brought to you on a daily basis," Hotch replies.

"What about clothes? We can't wear the same thing for however long we are going to be there."

"Do you want to stop at your foster home and pick more up? We can make a quick stop if you need to," Reid offers.

As much as Riley hates the idea of returning to that dreaded place, she agrees and the car is redirected accordingly. Riley remembers the last time she entered that house; she remembers how it ended with her getting kicked out for good._ What am I going to do? Am I going to go in? Reid and Hotch don't know I was kicked out, they will wonder why I don't go in if I sit in the car or stand outside. They can't know I was kicked out, Reid will just offer up whatever he has left for me and I can't take it. I can't keep relying and being dependent on him. I have to go in and play it cool until Wren can grab a few pairs of clothes. Maybe she won't even know I'm there, how bad could it be?_


	7. Chapter 6

By the time Riley had finished contemplating her predicament, the black SUV was pulling up outside the trashy excuse the two children called their foster home.

"Okay, we'll be right back!" Riley called to the agents as she ushered Wren out of the vehicle and onto the uneven sidewalk.

The pair walk up the desolate home as Wren asks, "Riley, what are you going to do? Don't they know you got kicked out? Where are you going to get your clothes? You don't have anything here!"

"I know Wren it's okay, I have enough clothes in my bag to keep me going for a week or more. Hopefully we won't have to stay there any longer than that. And no, they don't know. I don't want them to know; I don't want their freaking pity," she replies with a roll of her eyes.

"But what are you going to do about mother? She'll kill you if she sees you here! Especially if it's one of her bad days!"

"Don't worry about me; you just get what you need and we'll get out. Make it fast. I'll hang by the door and maybe she won't see me."

The pair reach the front door and gaze up at it. "I'll be as fast as I can, I promise, Riley."

"I believe you, buddy. Ready? Go."

She opens the door and he immediately sprints up the stairs to the left. Riley on the other hand more calmly filters in to stand against the wall of the dining room—seemingly unnoticed and unimportant.

Seconds pass but they feel like hours to Riley. Any time spent in this home is dangerous for fear the woman of the house may be right around the corner to spring at any moment.

Suddenly, a plate breaks in the kitchen on the others side of the house. Loud cursing can be heard throughout the house and the hairs on the back of Riley's neck stand on end as the voice comes increasingly closer. Looking side to side, she realizes there's nowhere for her to run, nowhere to hide. _I can't leave without Wren! Where is he? What's taking so long? Come on, Wren! She's going to see me!_ As the footsteps enter the dining room, Riley stands up straight to accept her fate.

"You!" The woman slurs as she barrels into the dining room, clearly still angry about the plate. "What are you doing here! You're not supposed to be here, I kicked you out months ago! You're causin' trouble here! You're the reason I broke that plate and everything is going to shit around here!"

"Whoa, whoa, I didn't do anything," Riley tries to argue calmly as the woman comes to stand directly in her face. The smell of alcohol hits Riley's face like a tornado wind every time the woman so much as breathes through her mouth.

"I thought I kicked you out months ago! What are you doing back here? You're not supposed to be here!" The woman bellows.

"We had an agreement. I can visit during the day whenever I want in exchange for my welfare…" Riley doesn't get to finish her sentence as the woman's hand comes up to slap her across the face. Riley's head turns and she reaches up to touch the tender skin of her cheek.

"Don't talk back to me, girl! I don't want any of your sorry excuses; I want you out of my house!"

Just then, soft, quick footsteps are heard coming down the stairs to Riley's left and the two women look over to find Wren running down the stairs. He stops, dead in his track, at the bottom and looks up at the scene in the dining room.

"Where do you think you're goin'?!" The woman shouts as she takes a step towards him.

"I…I…" Wren looks over to Riley, pleading for help. But she's already on it. She places her hand on the woman's shoulder and puts herself between this monster and her brother.

"He's coming with me," she states, crossing her arms and standing her ground. "We have somewhere to be."

The woman turns her glare to the teen in front of her. Annoyed and tired of the games, she shoves Riley to the side. Her head hits the frame of the door and she grimaces in pain. She reaches up to feel the bump forming on her forehead.

"I don't remember asking you, girl. I don't even want you here; you're polluting the minds of my children. Get out of my house!" She bellows in Riley's face, as the younger girl stands upright, ignoring the pain in her head.

"Fine. Wren and I were just leaving. Come on Wren," Riley turns and holds out her hand as Wren slowly scurries to stand beside her, grasping onto her outstretched hand.

"No! I will not have you corrupting the minds of my children! You're nothing but a troublemaker and a bad seed! Stay away from him; he wants to stay here!"

Finding his voice in a burst of confidence Wren speaks up, "No! I want to go with Riley!"

"What did you say to me?!" The woman trains her glare on the boy to Riley's side. "What did you just say! You think you can talk back to me now too?" She takes a quick glance up at the girl, "See what you've done! He's becoming more and more like you!" Looking back to the boy, she pulls her arm back, ready to swing at him, "You think you can talk back, huh? I'll show you what happens when you talk back to someone of authority in this house!"

"No!" Riley side steps, pushing Wren behind her, to take their mother's savage slap to the side of her arm. Scratch marks appear around a red palm print at the site of the offense. Ignorant of the harm, Riley continues, "You stay away from him. We don't want any trouble here. We're just going to leave. Just let us leave and we'll be out of your hair."

Riley turns to leave, ushering a frightened Wren in front of her to the door when the woman speaks up, "If he leaves with you now, he can kiss this home goodbye. I ain't harboring no criminals like you and your little follower."

"What! That's not fair! You've already kicked me out, don't do this to him too!"

The woman slaps her across the face once more, splitting her lip. Riley reaches up to wipe the blood as the woman rebuts, "You don't tell me what I can and can't do to the residents of my home! This is my house and I'll do what I want!

"Unless you can properly compensate," she rubs her fingers together, indicating money, "you both can find somewhere else to live. I've had enough dealing with the likes of you two."

"That's not fair! You're already keeping my welfare check and his! I have nothing more to give you!"

"You either have the money, or don't bother coming back. I'm done bargainin' with you, girly. All you do is mess with my head."

Frustrated but seeing no way around this predicament, Riley turns and kneels down to face her brother. "Wren, I…I don't know what to do here. I can't take you with me if you're not guaranteed a place to come back to when this is all over. Maybe you should stay here."

"Riley, no! I can't live here anymore! I'd rather live on the streets! Please take me with you, Riley! You're…you're better for me anyway. I need you!" Tears drip down his cheeks as the thought of staying and possibly never seeing Riley again threaten. "Please Riley, I need you. I can't live without you."

Riley gives him a reassuring smile and wipes away his remaining tears, "okay, buddy. I won't leave you. Let's get out of here." She stands, takes his hand, and heads for the door—not even bothering to look back at the woman's deadly sneer.

Manic laughter is heard from inside the door as Riley lets the screen door shut with a slam! "Have a good life, kiddies!"

Riley puts her arm around Wren, pulling him closer, and rubs his shoulder as they walk back to the awaiting SUV. She opens the back door for him and he crawls into the middle seat and tosses his bag to the seat behind Hotch. Riley gets in and sits behind Reid. _Reid won't be able to see me here and if Hotch doesn't look back I won't have to explain what happened._

She shuts the door, anticipating the car to drive away moments later but it sits still. Hotch looks back at the child passengers and notices Wren's tear streaked face and bumps and bruises on Riley's face.

"Riley, what happened? Are you alright?" He asks, concerned. Wren looks from the man to his protector sitting next to him, curious as to her response. He wipes a few remaining tears from his face and sniffles.

"I'm fine. Let's just go, please," she returns in a stone cold voice. She turns her head to face the window as shame washes over her. _I don't want them to see me like this—beaten. Maybe if I look away, avoiding eye contact and sound somewhat confident in my state of okay-ness, they will leave me alone and just drive._

Reid turns around to look and is upset at what he sees—Riley's cut lip, a small goose egg growing on the side of her forehead, and a red mark appearing on her arm. "Riley, are you sure you're…"

"Yes, I'm fine. Can we just go, please? We don't know where He is and the sooner we get into hiding, the sooner you guys can find them. Please just drive." She shuts her eyes hoping they'll stop talking to her if she looks as bad as she feels.

The agents look to each other and reluctantly let the subject go. Hotch puts the car in drive and the vehicle pulls away from the curb outside the dreadful home.

Wren reaches up and touches the scratches on Riley's arm with a concerned look etched on his face. "Riley," he whispers, "are you sure you're okay?"

Riley looks over at him and gives a small, pained smile. She drapes the scratched arm around him and pulls him against her body. "I'm fine right now, buddy, I promise," she sighs as she smoothes down his hair gently. "I just don't know if we'll be fine after this. I don't…I don't know what we can do from here."

He nestles his head closer to her and wraps his arms around her, trying to support her in her moment of weakness. "I don't care what happens, Riley, as long as you're there with me. As long as you're there, I'll be happy."

She presses her lips to the top of his head and continues petting his hair, "Thanks, bud. That's good to know. Thank you." She leans her head back with a small smile on her face as she closes her eyes, hoping to forget everything that just happened, hoping for a brighter future in the next few days.


	8. Chapter 7

"Alright Garcia, what can you tell us about Elizabeth while he was in prison?" Rossi asks as he stands behind the beloved tech analyst. She turns in her chair to face her computer to begin typing. "Have any of the inmates near His cell been released?"

Furious typing followed by Garcia's response, "Yes! There were two men released. A Samuel Wilson was released two months ago, after only a one-week stay while they found the true perpetrator of the crime they thought he committed; and a Richard Peters who was released about two week ago. He was arrested for…making bombs. Oh goodness no…"

"Why was he released, Garcia?"

"Corrupted retrieval of evidence. It seems the officers did not have a search warrant when they obtained his materials and that apparently makes him not guilty. Wow the federal justice system really sucks sometimes."

"Let me guess, he visited Elizabeth yesterday before the bomb detonated. Can you check the prison records of visitations?"

"No; actually he visited Mr. Hill."

"Well I guess that solidifies that the two are working together."

JJ walks into the office as she hangs up her phone and sticks it back in her jacket pocket, "Well I found a safe house for Riley and Wren to stay in for the time being. Hotch and Reid are taking them there now, they just stopped to pick stuff up at their foster home."

"Just one? I thought we were going to separate them for better safety," Rossi returns.

"We wanted to but they wanted to stay together. Riley won't let Wren out of her sight and Wren won't go anywhere without Riley." Rossi shakes his head in a "Nothing to do about it," manner and she continues, " I called the security officers at the prison but they can't tell us much. Even hours after the incident they are still doing damage control and truly don't know how many prisoners are dead or missing. I hope you're having more luck on the electronic side of things, Garcia."

"I most certainly am, m'lady! Rossi and I are hard at work uncovering Elizabeth and Hill's great escape plans!"

"Garcia, did either Hill or Elizabeth make any calls since they've been in?" Rossi ponders aloud.

She turns back to the computers to search. "Yes; Mr. Hill made several calls to his lawyer, which doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary I suppose. Elizabeth has a few calls to his lawyer as well, oh!"

"Oh! What?" JJ asks as she comes closer to stand on the other side of Garcia.

"Well in the last week Elizabeth has made two calls to two separate payphones in the area. Lucky for us, prisons are required to record phone conversations. Let's take a listen! This one was nine days ago, four days after Richard Peters was released."

Elizabeth's voice is heard over the speaker:_ Hello?_

An unknown voice timidly comes through: _You need a….clock, sir? It will take me a few days, say eight, to gather the proper materials and assemble it…if that suits you, sir._

Elizabeth: _Yes, that would be lovely. Don't worry, Peters, once you make this clock; everyone will have to notice you. No one will overlook you again. I have faith in you. I know you'll do your best work. Thank you for your service._

Unknown:_ Thank you for the inspiration, sir. It's truly been an honor to work with you. Is there anything else you need?_

Elizabeth:_ No I think the clock will do just fine. But, when you bring it, please bring it for Mr. Hill. He will tell you where to put it._

Unknown: _Yes sir, as you wish. Thank you again._

Elizabeth: _ You're welcome, Peters. Goodbye._

The line goes to static as both speakers hang up.

"That man sounded so submissive to Elizabeth. It was like he was a slave to Him," JJ comments.

"He's giving Peters a purpose. Did you hear how Elizabeth said 'everyone will notice you. You won't be overlooked'? That's his weakness that He exploits. He feels unnoticed and unimportant so Elizabeth is giving him a job—a purpose," Rossi returns.

"Wow…he's so manipulative…for someone who calls himself God he acts more like the devil," Garcia comments. Then another thought occurs to her, "Poor Riley, she followed this guy for how long? Like 10 years? Basically her entire childhood up until now. I can only imagine what she went through….I can only imagine what she went through when he kidnapped her…Oh, oh God! It must have been so…so terrible…"

"Garcia, you need to calm down. Riley's safe now. Looking back on that won't help her now. Focus," JJ pats her friend's shoulders to calm her down.

After a couple deep breaths Garcia has calmed herself and found a mental happy place. "You're right. We have to protect them and find these scumbags now. But remind me to give Riley the biggest hug she's ever received when this is all over.

Rossi pats her back, "Sounds good, kitten. Now can you bring up that second payphone call that Elizabeth had?"

"As you wish sir! This call was the day after the Peters call."

A deep, unknown voice comes through:_ What do you need now? I thought we were done playing this game._

Elizabeth:_ You're done when I say you're done, doctor! I need one more thing from you._

Unknown: _Yeah you said that the last time._

Elizabeth: _Quiet! You will do this for me or your fraudulent career goes down the drain. I still have that power from behind bars, you know! Don't doubt my abilities._

Unknown: _Y-yes sir. I understand. What do you need me to do?_

Elizabeth: _I am expecting a package in about a week. I think the geese are going to be migrating around the same time. I need you to find out where they are heading and report back to me. I predict they will be traveling around the 30__th__, about eight days from now. Does that sound about right to you?_

Unknown:_ Yes, I think I can do that for you. But how will I contact you, sir?_

Elizabeth: _Don't worry about it; I'll find you. Good-bye doctor; I expect you'll do your best to be of use to me._

Unknown: _Y-yes sir; I'll do my best. Good—good-bye, sir._

"So obviously the first person, Peters, was enlisted to create the bomb to free them. But who is the second caller?" JJ speaks up as the line goes to static and cuts out.

"Elizabeth referred to him as 'doctor' twice. Maybe he's truly some kind of doctor or has doctorate degrees," Rossi answered.

"Where would Elizabeth have found someone like that?"

"I have a feeling there's more to Elizabeth's network than we know about. He has followers of varying backgrounds. And what makes Him even more dangerous is how He can convert people any time, anywhere. Just look at Peters, he was tempted by Him in only a few weeks of prison time. I think we've been underestimating this man," Rossi warns speculatively as he imagines where His resources could have taken Him by now.

"Why does Elizabeth bring up geese migration? What does he care about geese at a time like this?" Garcia asks.

"It's probably some kind of code phrase like the clock was for a bomb. But I don't understand what it would connect with," JJ responds.

"Whatever it is, it's either already happened or is about to happen. Today is the 30th." Rossi states.


	9. Chapter 8

Morgan and Prentiss step out of the car and look up at the chaos around the prison. Morgan parked the SUV alongside the road on the way up to the prison. The excessive cars and police officers filing in, out, and around the massive, destroyed building make it difficult for the pair to think.

"Alright so they break out, and run away from the prison. What's their first move?" Morgan thinks aloud.

"Well first off they look like prisoners." Prentiss walks along the sidewalk to find a boarded-window below a local clothing store sign. She points to it, "I bet we can guess who broke that window."

"Alright, they get clothes so they don't stick out to the general public. But now they have no money, no resources, no allies…"

"I wouldn't be too sure about all of that. Elizabeth had more followers and allies than we originally thought; I'm sure he has more than we know about now."

"They are probably hiding out with some of His allies now. Stocking up on weapons and whatever else they might need. We'd have to search the entire city—every nook and cranny to find them. We don't have that kind of man power right now," Morgan says aloud.

"Maybe we won't need to…" Prentiss says as she looks out at the horizon where she presumes they went.

"What are you thinking, Emily?"

"They've already escaped, we can't stop that. And now they're wherever with whomever somewhere in this large general area. We may not be able to track where they are now, but we can probably narrow down where they're going to go."

"They're going to want to get to Riley and Wren. Let's work under the assumption they know about their foster home; I'm sure they wouldn't have broken out just to run around in circles looking for them. We need to get back and set up agents to scout out their home. Maybe even places they would go often, like school. They might think to follow them home one day and take them from the street."

As Morgan and Prentiss walk back to their vehicle, Morgan speaks up, "They're really just gone with the wind here. There's no way to trace them. Sure they most likely stole clothes so they could blend in, but that just makes them even more difficult to find out in the general population."

The pair reaches the car and climb in as Prentiss responds, "And sure they will most likely go get weapons, but it's not like they're going to walk into a gun store and purchase one legally. The only way we'd be able to track their purchases. They're probably going to get them from some black market connection. It would take days to track down any weapon exchanges and then even longer to find the one involving these two."

"Which we could send out feelers, but is it worth the time and effort? I think staking out their foster home should be the next step. I wouldn't doubt that they know where it is. That's gotta be where they look first." Morgan pulls the car away from the curb. "Let's head there now, who knows when they would get there. We can call to get a shift rotation going once we get there, and make a call to get access to any security cameras at or around their schools. Maybe set up a surveillance detail, but I don't know if we have enough man power."

"I just hope we haven't missed them."

* * *

"Where are we even going?" An exasperated voice echoes around the brick walls.

"Just shut up and follow me. I know where I'm going." A quiet but stern voice returns.

"We've been running and hiding all day since you stopped at that library to send that email. I just want to stop and relax somewhere for longer than 5 minutes," the first man whines.

"We can relax when Riley is dead." Elizabeth turns to his partner. "I thought you wanted this as much as I do. Do you not want to rip the life from your worthless son?"

"Hey! Don't ever doubt how much I want this too. I want nothing more than to slit that little shit's throat. And that girl. Don't get me started on that _girl_."

"Okay then shut up and trust me. Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me before?"

"No…sir." He responds timidly, ashamed he spoke up in the first place.

"Good, that's what I thought. Now we need to find a discreet payphone. I need to make some calls." He glances both ways before crossing the street. "And remember, Mr. Hill. Riley is _mine_."

His companion nods as they move two more blocks to find a payphone along an alleyway. Elizabeth steps in, leaving the door open so that Mr. Hill can stand in the entryway. Taking down his hood with one hand, he digs in his pants pockets to retrieve the change he picked from a homeless man hours before.

Dialing the number, the other side picks up on the second ring. "Ricky's Gun Shop, how can I help you?"

"Ricky. Remember that favor you owe me? I'm ready to collect." He uses his smooth, calm voice as he continues with a more patient conversation than most. "I need weapons ASAP. I need two knives. Make 'em big. Make 'em scary. But not too be we can't use them, you got me? And I need a gun. Nothing too fancy. Maybe short to mid range. You got what I'm looking for?"  
"Yes, sir. I can have that ready for you within the hour. Where would you like to meet?"

"Under the overpass at 12th and Lemongrass. I'll make sure no one else is around. Wouldn't want to hurt your business."

"Thank you, sir. Happy to be of assistance to you any time."

Elizabeth hangs up the phone and turns to Mr. Hill, "I figured you would be alright with just the knife."

"It's perfect! Thank you, God, thank you!"

"I knew that was your weapon of choice, Hill, I just didn't know you were so enamored by it. I like a good knife myself. Gets the job done and gets you close while doing it. I like that. We are more alike than we originally planned."

"Why the gun then, sir?"

"For reassurance. I never go somewhere without a contingency plan." He turns back to the phone. "Now that we have what we need to complete the mission, let's find our targets."

He picks it up and dials a familiar number. A timid, "Hello?" comes through the other side after a couple rings.

"What have you got for me, Doc?"

"Oh h-hi, sir. I don't…I don't really know if…"

"Spit it out, doctor! Did you find out where she's going or not?"

"Well she didn't…didn't really say…"

"Useless! That's it. Kiss your fraudulent, good-for-nothing career good-bye. I'm gonna—"

"Wait! Wait! She had two agents with her. When they were leaving, the one answered the phone and said something like 'Sand Creek Cabin' and '35'. Maybe they're at a place like a cabin off of Rt. 35. It's a major road northwest of the city."

"Find it. You're in charge of getting us there. You pick us up under the overpass of 12th and Lemongrass tomorrow at 6 pm. You better find them." His voice a cold, stern command.

"Ye-yes, sir. Understood. I'll be there."

"Yes, you will." Elizabeth hangs up and turns to leave the booth. "Come along, Hill. We have a man to meet about some weapons." Elizabeth puts his hood up to cover his bright blonde hair as the two return to the shadows, slinking toward the east side of the city. "It's not far from here. We'll claim some space, get the stuff, and camp out until tomorrow."

"Why can't we go tonight?" Mr. Hill presses with a hint of a whine.

"Because they're all on high alert tonight. They're expecting us. It's still fresh in their minds that we're out here. But tomorrow, after a good night's rest, they'll be settled, getting into their new routine. They'll feel safe; like they've won. And the agents will slowly be giving of hopes of finding us. Running out of ideas of where we'd be hiding. When they're at their lowest and feel like they've hit a dead-end, that's when we strike. Tomorrow night. The night that Riley Walker dies."


	10. Chapter 9

The SUV turns off the main road and onto a dirt road labeled "Sand Creek Cabin". To the average passerby it looked like any side road leading to a vacation cabin in the woods. On this day, to these two agents and two kids, this side road looked like salvation. It was a bumpy, dusty road with green trees encroaching the road on either side. Riley looked out the window with nostalgia; she missed the back roads of her Ohio hometown, they were just like this one. The inner city of D.C. had nothing on this landscape. She allowed herself to smile and relax, despite the rough road. About a mile later and the group found themselves looking up at the home Riley and Wren would be staying for the foreseeable future.

Riley's jaw drops and Wren exclaims, "it's beautiful!" as the kids' eyes meet the large cabin. Fulfilling the title of "log cabin", this home had the exterior appearance of being constructed of logs plucked from the nearby trees. Spacious and with a large front porch, the house looked rustic and inviting with chairs and tables on the front porch and flowers in the surrounding beds. The vehicle comes to a stop, but the kids are glued to their seats, eyes glued to the house.

"This is a safe house? It looks more like someone's million dollar regular house!." Riley exclaims, unable to look away.

"JJ has some good contacts in this area," Reid returns with a smirk. "Ready to go check it out?"

"Absolutely!" Wren yells as he unbuckles and jumps out of the vehicle with his backpack. Riley can't help the smile that spreads across her face. All interactions of the past few hours are forgotten and she lets herself feel happy and safe as she too climbs out of the car with her bag.

The smell of the forest overwhelms Riley's senses and she welcomes the scent over the now-too-familiar smell of the city and musty homes. The smells take her back to her childhood, and she feels herself relax even more. She moves around the vehicle and walks up to the stairs of the porch with Wren leading the pack.

The small boy pulls open the wooden screen door on the exterior before pushing the grand front door open. The group enters into the living room with a fireplace on the wall to the left. To the right sits the more modern entertainment scene with a large, plush couch, two comfortable looking armchairs focused around a TV console. On the far side of the room was a large wooden staircase leading to the upstairs.

Riley moves ahead to walk next to Wren while he's distracted looking around. "Riley! This house is amazing!" She smiles in return and looks around to soak it all in as well. She's left speechless.

Reid and Hotch work their way ahead of the kids and head toward the voices coming from the room ahead and to the left. They all turn the corner into the kitchen to find six agents wearing bulletproof vests and guns holstered at their hips. The FBI agents walk ahead to shake hands with each of them while Riley and Wren place their backpacks down at the table in the corner.

"Thank you all for being able to come in and commit to this on such short notice," Hotch addresses the group. They all nod as he continues. "This is Riley and Wren. The two you'll be protecting for as long as it takes to find who we're looking for."

One of the agents steps forward, "Nice to meet you both." He sticks his hand out to shake with Riley. Confused, but compliant, Riley shakes it back with a nervous smile. He bends down to Wren's level to shake his as well; Wren being much more excited about this big man and his big man gesture.

The agent stands back up to address all of the newcomers. "My name is Agent Rogers and I'm leading the security detail for this safe house. As there are 6 of us, there will always be two guards posted outside on a rotating schedule. Those not on guard might be milling about the house or in our bunking quarters through that door past the living room there." Riley and Wren turn to see the door he mentioned to the left of the television on the far wall. "As you can see the layout of the house is pretty self explanatory. There are 3 bedrooms upstairs you can choose from as well as a bathroom up there. If at any time you have questions, feel free to ask any of the guards. We advise against going outside, but if you strongly feel the need, make sure you let the guards know and you may only go out in the daylight. Understood?"

Wren glances up at him with glazed over eyes. He understood everything he said, but he didn't know if he had any questions to ask now. He couldn't think on the spot like this! Riley on the other hand smartly raised her hand.

Agent Rogers looked at her and squinted, confused. "Yes?"

"Are we gonna get to hear everyone else's names or are they just agent 1, agent 2, etc.?" Riley asked looking at the other guards behind Rogers.

Rogers clears his throat, "well if you must know, this" he indicates to the furthest guard left and moves right, "is Agent Collins, Agent Brennan, Agent Anthony, Agent Simmons, and Agent Coleman. But I'm sure if you went up to any of them and said 'Excuse me agent' they would all respond. Sound good?"

"Yeah we can work with that."

"Now, can I help you with anything else? If not, we're going to disperse and head to our stations and positions."

Riley looks down at Wren, "You have any questions bud?" He shakes his head nervously back up at her. She smiles and rubs his back as she responds, "Nah, we're okay for now. If we need something, we'll find someone."

"Alright, why don't you two head up to your rooms then. I want to have a few words with Agent Rogers and his crew before Reid and I head out," Hotch turned to the kids.

"Grab your stuff, Wren. I'll race you upstairs!" Riley yells as she grabs her backpack. Smiles on their faces as they go to check out the rest of the house.

With the kids out of the room and stomping around upstairs, Hotch turns to the security detail. "I know you've all been briefed already on this mission, who you're protecting and from whom. I want to tell you personally that these men are incredibly dangerous. I cannot begin to stress how important it is that you stay alert no matter where you are. They do not hesitate to kill and they will not hesitate to do whatever it takes to get to these two kids. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir. We will do everything in our power to protect them at all costs," Agent Rogers affirms.

"Good. Thank you." Hotch nods and goes to shake his hand. He moves to stand at the bottom of the stairs with Reid on his tail. "Riley! Wren! Reid and I are heading out!"

"We'll be right there!" Riley shouts back. Hotch and Reid start working their way to the front door as the sound of quick, loud footsteps can be heard above, then coming down the stairs until both kids emerged with smiles across their faces. They bubble with excitement as they walk toward the departing agents.

"I got the master bedroom! Aha!" Riley exclaims to the agents then sticks her tongue out at Wren in good fun.

"No fair! You have longer legs!" Wren says with a smile on his face.

"Then it's only fair I get the bigger room with a bigger bed, of course! I gotta rest these long legs. They can't be all cramped up in that small bedroom you got." She ruffles his hair as they come to a stop at the front door.

"Okay you two, can you behave for Agent Rogers and his men?" Hotch asks with one of his rare smiles.

"Yes," Riley responds with a roll of her eyes.

"I suppose," Wren answers with a roll of his own eyes.

"I'm really starting to think we should have split you up simply because I don't want him picking up any more of your bad habits!" Reid joked, pointing an accusatory finger at Riley.

They both giggle as Riley wraps an arm around Wren's shoulders. "Aww, but we would have been so bored then! Besides, how bad could he get?" Riley jokes back with a wide grin on her face.

"Okay, okay we really need to go. Be good." Hotch moves to open the door and gets serious. "We'll see you when this is over, alright?"

Riley's smile drops and she takes a gulp before replying. "Yeah. We'll see you guys soon. I know it." She puts on a hesitant smile and rubs Wren's shoulder to comfort both him and herself.

Hotch nods and steps out to the porch and Reid is left with the kids. Riley can tell he's holding back his own emotions as he says his goodbyes. "Listen to the agents here and be safe. Please. We'll catch them again as soon as we can, I promise."

Riley nods with a sad smile. " I know. We'll see you soon. This isn't forever."

Reid looks at her cut lip, then reaches his hand up to brush against the bump on her head. "And when this is over, it'll get better. I promise you that."

Riley nods again, but is left speechless. She pulls Wren closer to her side and gives Reid a final half smile as he turns to leave. Wren waves until suddenly the two are left staring at the closed door.

Sighing, Riley sighs and slaps a smile on her face. "Alright Wren, what do you wanna do first? We could go unpack a little, or we could check out all the channels this TV probably has."

"TV! TV!" Wren shouts as he runs to sit on the couch.

"Oh thank goodness, that was my vote too." She moves to plop down beside him, grabbing the remote off the side table.

Before hitting the power button, Riley hesitates. She looks back into the kitchen to see all 6 agents discussing the logistics and their individual duties. She leans over to Wren and says in a quiet, hushed tone, "you have your cell phone here, right?"

Wren pulls it out of his back pocket with a quizzical expression. "Yeah. Why? I don't really contact anyone but you."

"That's okay. Here let me see it." He hands it over to her while she gets her own out. "Okay I'm putting Reid's number into your phone under 'Agent Reid' alright? That way it'll be near the top of your list. As much as I trust these agents protecting us, I need us to have a fall back plan. If there's ever any doubt that we are not safe, I will let you know. You run up to your room, you lock the door, and you call Reid." Riley hands his phone back to him and looks him in the eyes.

"But...but what will you be doing? Why won't you be there with me?"

"I need you not to worry about me, and just be able to run upstairs, lock that door, and call Reid. Can you do that for me?"

"Riley…this sounds like what we did in the hospital when my dad came…and you got really hurt."

"Wren please, I'm okay now. And you were okay, because of it. It all worked out."

"Not when you were in a coma for a week…"

"Wren. I need you to do this. For me. For both of us. If you don't call Reid, they might not get here in time to save us and neither of us will be okay."

"Alright, alright. I just hope it doesn't come to that…" Wren frowns as he sets his phone beside him.

"Me neither, bud, me neither." She pets his hair and puts on a small smile. "Alright enough talk about bad stuff." She hits the power button on the TV remote. "What do you want to watch? Disney?"

"Yeah! Let's see what's on!" Wren yells excitedly and sits up straight with a smile spread across his face.


	11. Chapter 10

The SUV turns onto the main road and the two agents settle into their seats. An Interstate 35 road sign passes as Reid looks out the passenger side window. A mix of feelings swirls around within this young agent. Relief to have found them a safe place to go, but also anxiety worrying about whether this place is safe enough.

"Hotch? Do you think this is far enough away for them to be safe?" Reid asks timidly, keeping his gaze out the window to his side.

"If I'm being completely honest with you, Reid." He glances over at his companion. "I think that no matter how far we sent them, if Elizabeth and Mr. Hill are involved, the place doesn't matter. We could send them to the other side of the world and Elizabeth probably has the contacts to find them there. I think it's less about how far away we send the kids, and more about how fast we can find the criminals."

Reid sighs looking down at his feet, "I don't know how much time that gives us to find them…we really don't know what He's fully capable of."

"Now what kind of attitude is that? Would you want Riley hearing you talk like that?" Hotch gives a small smile.

With a small chuckle himself, Reid responds, "She'd probably punch me in the arm and tell me to shut up."

"Exactly. Why don't you call Morgan and see what he and Prentiss found out? Maybe we can get some new info."

Reid nods and pulls his phone out to dials his friend. "Hey, we just dropped Riley and Wren off. What did you and Emily find?"

A series of "mmhmms" follows before, " So you're there now?"

A pause.

"Hotch and I can stop by and relieve you guys."

A shorter pause.

"Yeah, yeah, no problem. See you soon." He lays the phone down and turns to Hotch with new vigor. "They're thinking they might try to snatch the kids from the foster home. There's no doubt they know where it is; Elizabeth took Wren from there or at least knew where to find him months ago. Morgan and Emily are there now keeping an eye on it. I told him we can stop by and relieve them to go eat before other agents get the go ahead to do the stake out."

Hotch nods in agreement and the two make the 20-minute drive back to the city; following the path they just came from.

They pull up alongside the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street from the house. Hotch turns the car off and gets out to go talk to Morgan and Prentiss before they leave, while Reid looks out at the house from his seat. The house that Riley has never had anything good to say about. The house that Riley returned with bumps and cuts just hours before. A simple house with nothing really going for it; painted a peeling white with a wooden porch and bland windows. It was all so ordinary and dull. Reid narrows his eyes at it as he imagines what's gone on in there. _I know Riley can be difficult and stubborn, but never to the point of abuse and neglect. I wonder what goes on in there…_

Hotch opens the door, snapping Reid from his thoughts. "Morgan and Prentiss are going to grab dinner and bring it back to the station. It could be a long night."

Reid murmurs a response and continues to stare at the house. As if his staring will help bring all the answers to his questions about this foster home.

"What are you thinking, Reid?"

"Aren't you wondering what happened in that house earlier? Why Riley came out with a cut limp and bump on the head?"

"I mean of course I am, but she wouldn't tell us. I figure if she's in real trouble, she'd tell us."

"The problem is, I think she has told me. Not in so many words, but in her actions and behaviors. She's constantly staying at my house, like every night. She carries her clothes around with her on a daily basis. I don't think she spends any time here…And she said earlier on the phone that her and Wren were going to get something to eat after her appointment tonight. You don't do that if you have a meal at home with a family waiting for you."

Hotch nods. "Alright, what do you want to do?"

"I just want to check the place out. She's lived here for how long and we've never seen more than the exterior? And she doesn't talk about anything or anyone other than Wren. I don't even know if anyone from here came to visit her in the hospital all those months she was there."

"We did."

"That's only helping my point."

"How do we make this relate to helping us catch Elizabeth and Hill?"

"Why don't we ask if anyone in there has seen anyone matching their descriptions around here? I just…have this feeling I need to know the environment she's been in since coming here a year ago."

Hotch lets out a sigh. "Alright, let's go." Reid lets a small smile drift across his face as the pair exit the vehicle and cross the street.

They walk down the uneven sidewalk Riley has journeyed on too many times, then up onto the small ram-shackle porch, and finally across to the simple wooden door, covered in chipping white paint. Hotchner knocks, sending a few paint chips to the ground. Scuffling can be heard behind the door, as if small feet were retreating away. Hotchner knocks again, a little louder this time.

A loud, "Who's at the door?" can be heard from within the house. Louder, heavier steps sound as if they're coming closer. As they approach, another, "Hey! Who's knockin at this hour?" A quiet, more timid voice answers, "I don't know. I…" The child is cut off by the louder, "Whatever. You're useless. I'll get it myself."

A series of increasingly loud footsteps stop and the door swinges open. A large woman stands in the doorway; illuminated by the light behind her, she appears a shadow figure until the agents' eyes adjust. She wears a faded dress with various stains discoloring the body. Her dark curly hair, though short, looks unkept and greasy.

"What do you want at this hour?" She demands, avoiding any pleasantries. The stench of alcohol hits their noses as her words hit their ears.

"Sorry for the late visit ma'am, but I'm Agent Hotchner and this is Dr. Reid. We're with the FBI." Hotch shows his badge before he continues. "We have a few questions for you. Have you or anyone in the home seen anyone suspicious around your property within the last day or so?"

As Hotchner speaks, Reid takes a peek into the house. He looks into what he assumes is a dining room as all that occupies the space is a simple wooden table with six chairs around it. Papers are skewed across the tabletop. Chairs are pushed out as if someone got up in a hurry and didn't bother pushing them back in. The walls are unnaturally bare; no pictures or decorations of any kind can be seen anywhere in the room. An archway leads into another room beyond this dining room, but it's dark. Reid can't make out anything in it. He tunes back into the conversation in front of him.

"Nope. I didn't see nobody and none of my kids said anything to me."

"Both are decently sized men; one is fairly muscular and about 5 foot 10, he has bright blond hair. The other is a little taller, medium build, and he would have been walking with a limp. Does this ring any bells?" Reid pushes.

"Still no. Have a good night now." She responds as she moves to shut the door.

Reid steps forward and places his hand on it, preventing it from closing. "Can you tell us anything about two of your wards, Riley Walker and Wren Hill?"

"Mm, you got any pictures? I got so many kids runnin' around here I can't keep names and faces straight." She shakes her head, looking like she didn't put an immense amount of effort into thinking.

Reid and Hotch exchange a curious look before Reid digs for his phone and swipes through his photos, looking for one with the two kids together. The woman taps her foot impatiently and lets out a deep, annoyed sigh as he does.

Reid pulls up one of his favorite pictures. He took this one himself just a week or two prior when the three of them went to the park together. Riley organized a picnic for the group and Reid snapped a good shot of the kids on the blanket, food set up and ready to eat. He smiles a little, reminiscing on how happy they all were this day. What a contrast to their circumstances now. He turns his phone to show the woman in front of him.

"Oh those two. They in some sort of trouble? I just knew it; they're the trouble making type. Kicked the girl out months ago and the boy earlier today actually."

"Kicked them out? What do you mean? For what?" Reid asks, concerned and confused.

"They ain't allowed to come back here, that's what I mean. I don't want that kind of trouble in my house. Can't quite remember why I kicked the girl out. Probably because she was gettin' lippy with me. Always using all these big words to try to mix my mind up and I had enough of it. Hadn't seen her in a while until she showed up here earlier and the boy was gonna leave with her. I said if he leaves with her, he's trouble too so he ain't welcome back here. He left with her so looks like I won't be seein' either of them again."

"I don't…I don't know if I understand. Clarify something for me here, please. Riley is what, like 14? And Wren is 8? If they're not allowed to come back here, where do you expect them to go? Why didn't you just file to transfer them somewhere else?" Reid rebuts.

"Don't know where they'll go and don't care. They didn't ask for a transfer so I don't file anything I don't need to."

"I…I…Let me get this straight," Reid starts. "I'm going to back up to the beginning. You kicked Riley out, because she argued with you?"

"Yessir." She responds, getting short with this interrogation. "Just the way she responded to me was insulting. She had no respect for the authority in this house and I couldn't take it any more. She had to go. I wasn't going to let her stay here and pollute the minds of my other children like the garbage that she is."

His eyebrows rise at her crass insult to Riley. "Wow, so you think she's the equivalent of garbage? So you kicked her out onto the street with the actual garbage. Huh."

"Yes. She insulted me and now she's not welcome back here. Simple as that. Now if we're done here, I'd like to get back to..." The woman works to close the door, but Reid pushes harder to keep it open.

"No we're actually not done here. I have to know, was she so insulting you decided to hit her too?" Reid asks, his voice acquiring an edge, his eyes taking on a stone hard glint. "Because when I disagree with someone, I usually talk it out with them and compromise. I don't slap them in the face. Especially not a little girl."

"I…she…." The woman stammers, mouth-hanging open, thrown for a loop by this accurate accusation. She wasn't prepared for this man to know so much about how she treats her children.

He sees her struggling to acknowledge and defend her actions, so he doesn't let up, "It's one thing to kick children out of a home, abandoning and endangering them, but it becomes even worse when you physically abuse them when they are here."

"Now hold on, I didn't say…" She tries to regain her footing in this conversation.

"No, you didn't have to say anything," his voice rising until it echoed throughout the house. His face growing red with anger and passion, "I saw what you did when she left here earlier. And I swear if you lay another hand on her…"

"Spencer." Hotchner cuts in sternly before he can finish his sentence.

The younger agent stops and takes a deep breath in and out and glances over at Hotch's stern face. Reid clears his throat, holds his head high, and looks the woman dead in the eye. "I just feel you should think about whether it's the children or the adult at fault here; who should really be considered _garbage_ in this situation." He turns to leave as she's left standing in the doorway, mouth hanging slightly open; speechless.

Hotch follows Reid back down the uneven sidewalk, across the street, and back into the SUV. The two agents sit in silence for a moment.

After a solid minute of silence, Reid fidgeting with his fingers, speaks, "I wish I could tell you I'm sorry for how I acted, but I'm not. I'll take whatever punishment you see fit. I let personal feelings get in the way, but I won't apologize for what I said. She called Riley garbage, Hotch. She abuses and neglects those children. I couldn't just let her stand there feeling like she was right for everything she does."

Looking straight ahead, the boss responds, "I don't know what you're talking about, Reid. As far as I'm concerned, we left the house after the homeowner told us she hadn't seen anyone fitting the prisoners' descriptions around the property." He leans back in his seat, crosses his arms, and gazes out the side window.

A small smile spreads across Reid's face as he too settles into his seat to keep watch for the next few hours.


	12. Chapter 11

It was the most relaxing day Riley had had in a long time. She didn't have to worry about going to that awful school; moving from one class to the next like the mindless zombies around her. She didn't have to worry about what she was going to do for meals; for her or for Wren. It was a relief to wake up, walk to the kitchen, and find food laid out on the table for them. It was just cereal, but it was still more than either of them had for breakfast in a long time. For Riley, it had been since her life in Ohio. For Wren, as long as he could remember he never had a sit-down breakfast. That wasn't how you started the morning with his parents; a panicked sprint out the door to catch the school bus was more like it. And this luxury was never even an option in that foster home.

The morning passed with Riley at the kitchen table working on schoolwork and Wren in a comfy chair in the living room reading his book. The most peace and calmness Riley had felt in what seemed like years. They were safe. They were well fed. And they were happy.

The agents moved roughly on an 8-hour schedule. Two would be out patrolling while two roamed the house, and the other two slept. Those roaming would give breaks to those patrolling for meals and the sorts, but otherwise they hung out in the main living areas. Around lunchtime these agents offered to cook the kids a lunch, but Riley declined and instead made grilled cheese and tomato soup for everyone, including all of the agents.

By this time, Riley had finished any schoolwork she could come up with, and Wren had finished his book. They were at a loss for what to do. Sit and watch TV all day? It's not like they could go outside. What else was there to do? Thankfully the agents in the house at the time had a solution. All four sat around the kitchen table, and Riley and the agents taught Wren how to play poker. Using M&Ms and pretzel sticks as currency, the group played all afternoon up until dinner.

Riley walked away with the most "cash" at the end of the session, but the agents weren't too far behind her. Wren was hopelessly in last place, but he was starting to get the hang of it toward the end. The group cooked chicken breasts, rice, and broccoli for dinner, then Wren and Riley settled down in front of the TV for a movie while the agents relieved those on patrol for their meals.

As the darkness outside set in, so did the reality of the situation settle with Riley. While today was as relaxing as a vacation, this was not a vacation. While this cabin was like a dream home, it was not a dream home. It was a safe house. They were here because two dangerous criminals were coming to kill them. A sense of dread filled her and she fidgeted on the couch. Glancing into the agents eating dinner calmed her. They were guarded. They were safe. She settled back into the couch to watch.

With the end of the movie, Riley stretched and looked at her watch. 8:09. _Hmm, I figured the agents patrolling would have come back in by now…maybe they went straight up to their rooms?_ She glanced out the windows to the front and back of the house, but only darkness stared back at her. The sense of dread returned and settled itself into her mind. _Maybe I should just peak out and check._

She gets up and walks to the front door; cool and collected on the outside, a bundle of nerves on the inside.

"Whatcha doin, Riley?" Wren asks as he watches her from his spot on the couch.

"I'm just checking something, buddy. It doesn't look like the two agents switched yet so I'm just gonna check it out quick…" drifting the sentence off as she touches the front door.

"Riley…are you sure? Maybe we should wait…"

"Shhh, Wren I'm sure it's nothing. I just want to be sure." She turns the lock, opens the door, and takes a step outside.

The cool night air hits her face. The wooden porch felt even cooler under her socked feet. She can hear the cicadas and crickets chirping through the trees. An owl calls out in the distance. Riley listens closely, but is disturbed by the lack of nearby sound like the pacing of the agents around the perimeter, or the shift of an outfit. Just silence. She looks side to side and beyond the porch, but the blackness of the night is too strong.

"Agents?" She calls out. Riley can hear the softest of groans in response; was it a person, or just the creaking of the trees? She takes a couple steps out onto the porch, leaving the door ajar.

"Hello?" She calls out again. The groan responds again, sounding like it originated from the end of the porch. The ball of nerves tightens around her heart as she peaks over the railing. In the darkness, Riley can just make out a large, darker-than-the-night lump on the ground; what looked like feet sticking up toward the sky like someone was lying on their back on the cold ground.

The ball of nerves drops into her stomach._ They found us._ She sprints back into the living room, locking the door behind her.

With her back to the door, eyes wide, heart pounding, she looks to Wren.

"Wren. Go. Right now. Call Reid." She speaks without yelling, but he feels the urgent need in her short tone.

He pulls his cell phone out of his pocket as he jumps off the couch. He starts looking through his contacts as he bounds up the stairs out of sight.

"Go! Lock the door!" Riley calls after him, as she looks frantically around the room on high alert. She runs across to the back door and makes sure it's still locked. Then to the door leading to the agents' barracks. Locking this too, she places her back against it and takes several shaky, deep breaths.

Out of the darkness of the kitchen, Riley hears a voice; a smooth, calm, yet forceful voice that she knows all too well.

"Riley. Riley. Riley." The man steps into the entryway of the living room. The lights illuminate his face, glinting off his bright blond hair. His face cracks into a wide smile as he watches Riley frozen to the door. A mix of disbelief and fear show on her face.

His grin widens, farther than natural, "Did ya miss me?"


	13. Chapter 12

JJ shifts in her seat and stretches her upper body. She sits around the conference table in the BAU with Morgan, Reid, Garcia, Rossi, and Hotch. It's been an entire day; an entire day full of dead ends and frustration. They were running out of ideas of where their targets could be, and running out of time until the targets found Riley and Wren. Gathered around a late dinner, the agents picked at their food silently; scrounging their brains for something they could have missed up until this point.

Prentiss walks into the room with an as-of-recently-familiar defeated look about her posture, "I just talked to the agent directing the stake outs. None of the surveillance teams have had sight of Elizabeth or Hill at the foster home or either school today." She takes a seat next to Morgan and grabs her own take out box.

"Let's regroup what we know about their time in prison. That was where they met and had the time to plan all of this. So the two men obviously got to know each other from being so close, and they kept that friendship." Hotch starts up a conversation.

"They realize they have common enemies; Riley and Wren. So they start working on a plan to get out and finish what they started; killing the kids." Morgan bounces off.

"And through knowing Mr. Peters, they have their way out. We know this from Elizabeth's phone conversation with Peters. They talk about a clock but it's so well described as a bomb, and on the exact day the actual bomb went off," JJ continues.

"So they make one call to get them out, but Elizabeth placed a second call to someone the next day. He called him 'doctor', but they talked about geese migrating," Garcia interjects as she pulls up the phone transcript on her laptop.

"If he's a doctor he might not necessarily be in the medical field. He could simply have a doctoral degree. We were thinking about this earlier," Rossi takes over. "They discussed geese migration, maybe he's a professor of wildlife? Or animal science?"

"While this is the appropriate time for geese to start migration in this region, that can't be what Elizabeth really meant by that comment. He wouldn't care about geese when he breaks out of prison," Reid volunteers his knowledge of all things.

"But Elizabeth gave a few days for the migration too. He said around the 30th, yesterday. Why give such a specific date if he was guessing about some 'migration'?" Garcia chimes back in.

Rossi looks up as a realization hits him. "Because he's not talking about the geese. What else can migrate? People. People can migrate."

"And the two most important people in these men's lives migrated or moved yesterday. Riley and Wren. They moved because of the two breaking out of prison. They knew we'd move them somewhere safe. He's asking this doctor where we put them." Morgan comes in, more alert as their ideas start to form around a solid theory of action.

"So this doctor has to be someone Riley or Wren would know. Someone they know well enough that they might confide that they're going away for a while when we moved them to the safe house. Maybe a teacher that they would have told about missing school?" Prentiss suggests. Garcia starts typing, looking into every teacher at the kids' schools to see which ones have doctoral degrees.

"Or what if we go with the idea that the doctor He's referring to is a medical doctor? And, this might be a stretch, but what if it's Riley's doctor? She said something yesterday that he was asking her weird questions. What did she say? I know she said this doctor has been with her since the first hospital visit, but there was something else." Reid stops to think, recalling his conversation with Riley the day before. It seems like so much has happened in those last 24 hours.

Rossi leans back, also thinking aloud, "ya know, I always wondered how Elizabeth knew when to strike after Riley got out of the hospital months after her kidnapping. It was literally the next day. It would make sense that He knew if this doctor told her when she was being released."

"Maybe we should pay this guy a visit. Garcia can you get me his address? Morgan asks sweetly.

"Yup, just give me one minute, I'm finishing up running all of their teachers right now and flagging anything of even slight importance."

Rossi ponders aloud, "What would Elizabeth get out of using this doctor? What does he have to give that Elizabeth can't get himself?"

"Well he could have told Elizabeth when Riley was out of the hospital the first time, so he can provide her whereabouts to a point…maybe even tell Elizabeth her health or recovery status?" Prentiss returns.

"But if this doctor had this control over Riley while she was in the hospital, why didn't Elizabeth just come in some time and finish her off then? Why wait until she got out?" Rossi counters.

"We were in there visiting her fairly often and came in unannounced when she's been there. Even when we were on a case, Garcia would go in. The doctor would have been able to tell that. Maybe she was too well guarded for Elizabeth to get to in the hospital." JJ spoke up.

"Wait!" Reid stood up as it hit him. "Riley said her doctor was asking if she was going on vacation or traveling soon when she was there yesterday. She thought it was weird and out of the ordinary because it's the beginning of the school year, but I just told her she's on high alert so everything is going to sound suspicious. Maybe it wasn't just paranoia. He was trying to get her to say something about where she was going. This doctor is feeding Elizabeth information somehow. But she didn't know where we were going yet so he didn't get anything out of her."

Hotch stands and makes eye contact with Reid, "We didn't find out until the hallway when J.J. called. The doctor was right beside us when we were on the phone. I said it back to her to make sure I heard it right, so the doctor heard everything too. I never said out loud that's what it was or that's where we're going, but that would be the only information he would have to pass on."

"And it would be the right information…J.J., call up the guards at their safe house to check in. Let them know what we know now." Rossi speaks up.

She leaves to do that, but as she does, Reid's phone buzzes. The caller ID is a number he doesn't know but he picks up anyway. On the other line, a young boy's voice comes through, "Reid! Something's happening. You gotta-" and then silence.

"Wren?" he shouts into the phone. "Are you alright? Wren, can you hear me?" More silence answers back and he looks up at the rest of the team. The other end clicks off as J.J. comes back to the group and says none of the guards are responding.

"They're there now. Right now. Wren just tried to call me but he got cut off. They have them. We have to go!" Reid scrambles about as he grabs his jacket and gear. Everyone follows suit and they all run out of the building to the SUVs and peel out of the parking lot.


	14. Chapter 13

It was a struggle, but somehow Wren managed to climb the steps and go through his contacts to find Reid's number. The contact was near the top, but it took him a while to open the app as he ran. At the top of the stairs he was finally able to hit call. Panting, he quickly walked toward his room, listening to the phone ring. As soon as he heard someone pick up, he started, "Reid! Something's happening. You gotta-" Touching the door to enter his room, he felt arms constrict around him from behind. One grabs him around the abdomen while the other covers his mouth.

Wren freezes with the phone to his ear. He can hear his savior yelling on the other end, "Wren? Are you alright? Wren, can you hear me?" Tears come to his eyes being unable to reply. The arm around his body releases and places a knife to his throat. With the tip threatening to break the skin, the hand around his mouth releases and hovers in front of his face, silently asking for the phone. As much as it hurts to not respond to Reid, the knife to his throat hurts more. He pulls it away from his ear without a word and places it in the hand in front of him. The hand hits the end button and pulls it out of view.

Knife still pressed to his throat, Wren hears the voice of the man behind him. His blood turns to ice and his body goes rigid as he recognizes the worst voice he's ever heard, "Good boy. Now let's go downstairs for the show."

Father and son walk back the hallway and down the stairs where Wren just came from. Mr. Hill keeps the knife pressed against the side of his son's neck; just barely touching the skin without penetrating it.

They descend the stairs, and Wren can just make out the sound of Riley talking to someone else. He hears a male voice say calmly, "I saw you running around locking all the doors, Riley, but you didn't check all the ways in here…windows can work as doors too ya know."

Wren takes the final step down into the living room and takes in the scene around him. Riley is standing facing him, her back to the door leading to the agents' rooms. A man that looked familiar to Wren was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. It took a moment, but Wren finally placed him as the man that kidnapped him months ago. The one Riley had a fight with in that empty building.

His father steps into the living room, still holding the knife to Wren's neck. "You know the crazy thing, God? Doors can work as doors too! So glad there was one to the second floor upstairs from those bunk rooms over there. Don't know how I would have found my son otherwise." He tussles his son's hair aggressively with a sick grin stretching across his face.

Wren lets out a whimper as the movement of his head causes the knife to move against his neck.

"Shut up! It isn't your turn to speak. Besides, I think you've done enough talking for the night. Who were you calling up there?"

His son looks at the floor with tears in his eyes, "I..I..it…"

"Useless. Absolutely useless. Whatever, I don't care. You didn't get to say anything to whoever it was anyway."

Wren looks up at Riley and makes eye contact, trying to tell her he's sorry for failing her. He couldn't even make a phone call right. A phone call that Riley _needed_ him to make. Maybe he was just as useless as his father says.

Riley looks back to him with sympathetic eyes. "It's okay." She mouths silently as Hill and Elizabeth have their own conversation.

"God, would you mind grabbing me a chair from the kitchen?"

The other man nods and does as asked, carrying a wooden chair out of the dark kitchen. "Where would you like it?" His smooth voice makes Wren uncomfortable in these circumstances.

"Just put it on this side of the room. I thought I'd be nice and let my son have a seat while we watch you do your thing."

"Aw how very considerate of you, Hill." He places the chair down on this side of the room, about 10 feet in front of Riley. She watches them, worried about where this is going. She knows what these two are capable of on their own, she can only imagine their cruelty teamed up. "And people said you were a bad father!" God's voice interrupts Riley's thinking.

"Right? It's just so rude," Mr. Hill responds with an incredulous look as he leads his son over to sit in the chair, facing the living room. He holds him down with his left hand on his shoulder and the knife against the right side of the boy's neck.

"Although, maybe they're not all wrong," He says with a grin as he lets the knife dig into the boy's skin and slides it along. A scratch starts to trickle blood and Wren lets sniffle out as he does his best to hold back tears.

Riley can't stand there and watch her brother be hurt anymore. She takes two steps forward and raises here arms in a gesture of peace. "Stop it!" She commands. "We don't have to do this."

Faster than she was expecting, God reaches out from in front of them and grabs her left arm, twisting it behind her back and forcing her down to the floor on her stomach.

Her arm behind her back like this, God grins as he starts cutting the all-too-familiar line down her forearm just as he did the last time they met. "This is going a lot easier than the last few times we've seen each other. Are you going soft on me, Riley? Or are you just scared?" He taunts.

She swings her right elbow around and connects with his chin. He falls to the side form the blow, giving her the chance to push herself up. He stands as well and they find themselves face to face.

Riley looks at him with hurt and confusion, "Why are you doing this?"

The man chuckles cruelly, "Oh come on, Riley. Shouldn't you know? Can't you just instantly know everything about everyone?"

"You're…different. You don't radiate your emotions like others. You're too closed off. Like you had a bad childhood and you're used to hiding your emotions from others…" She squints her eyes at him, beginning to understand him like she never could be.

"Oh, don't start now!" He takes an unexpected swing at her with his fist and knocks her to the ground.

She holds her head where it hit the ground, blinks a few times, and stands, not ready for this man to win this easy. She looks at him more intensely, reading him for the first time. "You've always been on your own; as a child, as an adult. You like that though. You work alone. Sure you have the passing partner, but it's out of convenience, never out of necessity. You work with them until you get what you want, and then the deal is off. And that's made you egotistical and narcissistic. Why work with someone else when you can do better alone?

He charges to tackle her, but she steps aside and he collapses to the floor where she was. He remains on the floor, glaring up at her.

She stays standing not far from him, the thoughts racing in her mind. "But if you work so well alone, why did you need me all these years? You've groomed me since I was what, 7? If you are so good on your own, why did you enlist the help of a 7 year old girl?"

"Shut up! I didn't need you! You're nothing special!" He sneers. He takes a swing with the knife from his position on the ground, taking advantage of her distracted state. The knife cuts across her left shin.

Riley falls back onto her butt and scoots a few feet away from him, still deep in thought. "No…it's because you're not special. You can't profile people like the BAU can. Like I can. That's why you've _needed me_ all these years.

Elizabeth jumps up and rushes over to Riley before she has the chance to stand up. She sees Him approach, but it's too late. He kicks her down, thwarting her too-late attempt to get up back down, and stands on her abdomen. He presses down. "I don't _need_ _anyone_."

Riley can feel the force of his foot becoming too much. She's gasping. "You need people more than you think. You wouldn't have so many followers if you didn't. You have connections for things you can't do. That's why you had me, because you can't just look at someone and know their life story, know their strengths, know their weaknesses."

A final push and Riley feels the ribs on the right side of her body let go with a crack! She cries out but feels the pressure release and slides back away from the man. She finds herself against the couch. Clutching her right side with her left hand, she stands level to her villain. Breathing heavily and wincing with each deep breath, she looks into His eyes as He looks off into the mid-distance, reminiscing.

"All I ever wanted was to be a part of the FBI. I wasn't afraid to get down and dirty, do the stuff regular people would be too squeamish to do, ya know? I heard about the BAU back in the early 2000's when it started to get the news attention it so deserved. I never wanted anything more. I tried to go through the academy, I took profiling classes, but I couldn't get it. I failed every single profiling course I ever took. My professors told me I'd be a better communications major; they told me if I was so set on the FBI, to look into liaison positions because I just had such a way with words. I didn't want to talk to people, I wanted to understand them. And now I wanted to destroy them. After a few years of failure after failure, I gave up trying to get into the FBI. If I couldn't take the job I so desired, I vowed to break those who could get it. What better way to do so than by beating them at their own game; profiling them and destroying them with their own greatest weaknesses."

Nodding slowly, Riley thinks aloud, "You admired them and what they could do…but you couldn't do it yourself. And God only works alone. It wasn't just the job that you wanted. You wanted what they had; the ability to profile." She tisks and shakes her head, "You are so full of yourself that you would kill them because they can do something you can't!"

"Yes!" He rushes forward, grabbing her by the neck and lifting her so that her feet barely touch the ground. "I needed that information on them so that I could finish my mission, but you took it!" He tightens his grip, feeling satisfied as she starts to cough. "That was my information on those agents! I wanted to tear them apart bit by bit!"

Despite the screaming in her ribs, Riley kicks up and knees Him in the groin. He lets go and takes a step back, bending over to catch his breath. Riley sits against the arm of the couch, trying her best to catch her breath too. Weakly, but still with a passion, she manages to squeak out, "It was never your information to begin with."

Still bent over, but recovering much faster than His opponent, "Oh and it was yours? You wouldn't know your potential without me! You'd be nothing without me!"

Gaining momentum and fire of her own, "I'd have my parents without you! How did you even know about me in the first place? I didn't even know what I could do. I was so young.

God chuckles as he stands straight up to speak, "It's funny actually, it was complete happenstance; the perfect example of right place, right time. I was at a bar your stepfather frequented. I overheard him having a conversation with someone nearby. He was talking about this daughter he had; small, sweet girl with an uncanny ability to understand people. My ears perked up at the conversation, this was only a few months after I started my mission to take down the BAU, and all of a sudden the perfect specimen to help do it was handed to me on a silver platter. All I had to do was find a way to get to you. I kept listening and he went on about how amazingly smart you were for your age, despite the poor genetic influence of your unknown to you, dead-beat, biological father. That's when I saw my way in; a smart little girl like you would love to know a secret about yourself. You'd think I was a God being able to tell your life story that not even your parents would tell you."

Blinking and looking off into the distance beyond him, Riley speaks aloud quietly, "So all of this…was because you overheard one conversation one night. You just happened to be at the right place and the right time and listening to the right conversation. My dad was talking about me to his friends, you overheard it, and planned to use my ability to read people against everyone I'd ever meet. My whole life has been dictated by this one conversation…"

He takes a few steps closer as she continues to stare into the distance, frozen as she ponders the odds. A small smile on His face, "It's like the universe was drawing us together. We were meant to meet like this Riley. It's fate, Riley."

Still with a distant, distracted tone, she says "After everything that's happened to me in this life…" She looks into his eyes, and her words harden. "I don't really believe in fate."

His smile dissipates and He punches her to the ground. "We could have made the perfect team!" He shouts down at her.

She moves out of the way as he goes to stomp his foot down on her again. She stops once she's out of immediate danger. "Perfect? You're a murderer! You just want to destroy people! I don't want to be part of your sick team! Why couldn't you just leave me alone when you knew I wouldn't give you what you wanted?" She moves onto all fours as she works to get herself back up on her feet.

"Because you were so _perfect_. This whole time you haven't been thinking…holistically, Riley." He strides over and kicks her in the stomach and chuckles as she collapses to the floor, spitting up blood. "You really haven't connected all of the dots yet, have you?"

Crawling away, she uses a padded chair to help her stand as He gives her a reprieve. She wipes the blood from her mouth and stands as tall as her body will allow her. "What do you mean?"

"You said it yourself. I can't _stand_ when others can do what I cannot. It's not just those agents I despise for this ability." He takes a few steps closer, forcing her to back up away from Him, and farther away from Wren and his father. "You, Riley." A sinister grin on his lips. "You can profile without even trying! You've been able to do this since you could talk!"

He lashes out with the knife and cuts near her collarbone, chuckling as he connects with skin and a red line appears. He goes to take another swipe but Riley moves back, making Him miss, and knocking the knife out of His hand on the upswing. His grin is replaced with rage.

"It's not fair! Whether you like it or not, Riley, you have what I want. And if you can't join me, then I can't let you join anyone else." He pulls a gun out of his back pocket. "I've grown tired of this cat and mouse game. I've grown tired of you, Riley."

Eyes widening, Riley rushes forward and grabs the pistol over His hands. He fires the gun but the bullet misses to the right of Riley's shoulder and lodges into the wooden wall behind her. They struggle over the weapon, forcing the barrel back and forth between the two; His finger on the trigger the whole time.

Riley can hear Hill on the opposite side of the room, "Alright looks like this is about over. It's time for you and me to have some fun, son."

There's a pause and then Riley hears Wren's high-pitched, worried voice, "No! Please stop."

She feels a surge of energy and passion to fight back. Not just for herself. For her brother. For her family. For the BAU.

Smoke billows up to the ceiling as the gun fires. His body hits the ground and Riley is left standing, gun held loosely in her hands, staring dumbfounded as blood gushes from the center of His chest.

The bullet tore through His body, filling His lungs with blood. He knows it, He can feel it. He lays back and tries to cover the wound but knows it's fatal; He's not going to survive this encounter. He knows these will be His last words and He wants to make them memorable.

With blood dripping from his mouth, God looks up at his foe. The girl who was once His prized ally; the girl who turned out to be His demise. "And you said you didn't want to be a part of my team," He looks down at His wound briefly before maintaining eye contact again. "You're just like me now, Riley. I'm proud of you."


	15. Chapter 14

His final sentence escapes His lips as He lays His head back and His breaths become nonexistent. _I'm proud of you _replays through Riley's consciousness. It's all she can hear. She watched the light in His eyes die out as He spoke His final words; words that might as well have been a physical shot to her heart. _I'm proud of you_. This _monster_ was proud of _her_.

Riley takes a few steps back and drops to her knees, the gun limp in her right hand. _I did this. I'm a monster just like He was. Maybe I-I'm the monster._

Mr. Hill watches his friend fall and observes his last breath. "God? God! No!" He turns to Riley. "You killed him!"

He rushes forward with his knife, now ignorant of his own captive in the chair, to avenge his comrade's death. _If God couldn't kill her, I'll have to kill her for Him._

As Hill advances across the room, the door to the cabin swings open. Derek Morgan steps into the doorway; gun raised, and quickly assesses the situation. Mr. Hill looks up at the movement of the door, but doesn't hesitate in his actions. Head down, he presses on toward Riley until two shots are fired into his chest. His body hits the ground and doesn't move, the knife falling from his grasp as his body goes limp.

Riley is oblivious to all of this as she remains tormented in the realm of her thoughts. _I killed Him. I'm no better than Him. I'm going to turn out like Him. _She thinks, still clutching the gun He released.

Reid and Prentiss appear beside Morgan in the doorway, find no threatening forces left in the room, and return their guns to their holsters. Reid takes a step forward as Morgan and Prentiss move to the dead figures in the room; no one notices the small boy stunned to his seat on the far side of the room.

"Riley, are you alright? Tell me what hurts; what's wrong?" Reid asks as he continues to move closer to her.

Her eyes still locked on His dead body in front of her, Riley hears nothing but her own thoughts. _I killed Him. If I could kill Him, I could kill anyone around me. I have to stop myself before that happens._ She places the gun to her temple and closes her eyes.

"Riley, what are you doing?!" Prentiss exclaims as she takes a step toward her and the gun.

"Stop," Riley commands firmly as she situates her grip on the pistol, finally hearing the others in the room. Everyone in the room listens and freezes where they are. Tears leak down her cheeks. "I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt any one else."

"Riley don't do this," Reid says from his position 10 feet away.

"I don't have a choice. I killed Him," she sobs through closed eyes. The gun shakes against her temple but she keeps a tight grip.

"Yes, you do have a choice, Riley, it's okay…" Reid speaks softly.

"No! No it's not okay. I'm a monster. All I do is hurt people just like Him. First my parents, and that lady in the park all those years ago, and now God! Who knows who else I've hurt along the way!" She opens her eyes to look into Reid's as he stands a few feet away. She whispers just loud enough for everyone to hear, "I don't want to hurt anyone else."

"Riley, listen to me. That is not true. You did not kill your parents. You did not kill that lady in the park. And God? This was self-defense. If you hadn't killed Him, Riley, He would have killed you."

She looks over at His dead body. "I think it would have been better that way. Then I wouldn't have to live with the fact that I'm just like Him. I might not have killed them all myself, but there's no doubt they're all dead because of me."

"Don't say that."

"I can stop it though." She adjusts her grip on the gun once more and looks at Him more intensely. "I can stop myself before anyone else dies."

"Riley. Look at me." He waits for her to gaze up at him with tears in her eyes. "You are nothing like Him. You help people—you don't hurt them. Think of all the cases you've helped us on; think of all of those people you've saved in the last year," he takes tentative steps closer to her as he continues, "Think of Wren, Riley. Wren needs you."

"I do, Riley," Wren squeaks as he timidly gets up from his chair and takes a few steps closer to them. One hand pressed against the cuts on his neck, and the other hugging his small frame.

"I need you, Riley." Reid states as he takes a final step and kneels in front of her. "Give me the gun, Riley."

With tears blurring her vision, Riley looks into his eyes to see his sincerity reflected back at her.

"You've gone through too much to give up now. If you kill yourself, He wins. Don't let Him win, Riley. We need you here," Reid whispers to her as he holds out his hand.

Gripping the gun one more time, Riley shakes her head and pulls it away from her temple to hand to the agent in front of her. She sinks back completely and sits wholly on the floor; physically, mentally, and emotionally spent. A few, final tears slip down her cheeks as she tries to steady her breathing.

Suddenly a force wraps its arms around her torso. She gasps as the pain in her ribs resonates around her entire abdomen. She gets up on her knees, trying to get air back into her lungs, and the force lets go.

Still gasping, she looks over and finds herself looking into Wren's tear streaked face. "Oh, Wren." One hand on the floor supporting her, she brushes over his cheeks with the other to wipe the tears off his worried face.

"Riley, Riley, are you okay?" He asks in between sniffles.

"I'll" She coughs and winces. "I'll be alright." She looks to the cuts on his neck and cringes. "Wren, I'm so sorry. I should have…"

She coughs again, but uses her hand to cover it. Looking down at her hand, she finds blood. She places both palms down on the ground as her body is racketed with more pain. She takes steady breaths, as she tastes blood.

"Riley? Is that blood? Are you okay? What's wrong?" Wren rapidly questions as he touches her shoulder.

Reid, now finished bagging the gun and handing it off to the back-up police now arriving on scene, looks back over to the kids to find Riley on all fours and Wren checking on her. His eyes widen and panic rises in his heart._ I didn't even check to see if she's physically alright._ He rushes over and kneels in front of her.

"Talk to me, Riley. What's going on?" Reid asks, placing his hands on her shoulders to steady her. "Why don't you sit upright?" He looks her over the best he can from this position. Noticing the split lip and small bump on her forehead she came to the safe house with, but with the addition of a cut on her cheek, most likely from a punch, and a new, larger bruised bump on her forehead where it looks like her head connected with something hard. He sees the long cut down her left arm and on her chest. But beyond these superficial wounds, she appears okay.

"I…I can't," she gasps out quietly, trying to gather enough air to keep talking. Her body growing more tired with every shallow breath she manages to get out despite the piercing of her ribs against her organs.

"What hurts? Is it your head?" Reid keeps talking as he runs his hand over her forehead. He turns to the front door, "Get the paramedics in here!"

Riley coughs again, not bothering to cover her mouth, as she needs all the support from her arms she can get. Blood splatters to the ground below her.

Reid grows more concerned as he watches blood drip to the floor. He lifts her chin up to look at her and wipes a few remaining drops from the corner of her mouth. "What's wrong, Riley?"

"He…broke my ribs." She wheezes out. "It's getting harder…to breathe."

"Just hang on, Riley. The paramedics are coming right now. We're gonna get you fixed up. Just hold on one more minute." He speaks quietly to her, before he turns back to the door. "Where are the medics?! We need them now!"

"Reid. Make sure…Wren comes with. His dad cut him. They look kind of deep. Please. Help him." She croaks out, her eyes starting to close as her adrenaline diminishes and the full effects of her injuries ache.

The elder man gives a crooked smile and shakes his head slightly. _Even in immense pain, she's worried about someone else. Unbelievable._ He looks over to the boy and notices the cuts on his neck. While they definitely look deeper than scratches, they aren't deep enough to worry about blood loss.

Reid reaches over with a small smile and smoothes Wren's hair. "We'll take care of him, don't worry."

The paramedics enter and move immediately to the group on the floor. The two men load Riley up onto the gurney, attaching lines of oxygen and pain relievers to her as they push her toward the exit. Her eyes close as they push her into the ambulance, her body finally able to relax after the stress of the last hour. The stress of the last 10 years.


	16. Chapter 15

Spencer Reid walks into the hospital room, like he had done for Riley so many times before; only this time, he comes in with a wide smile on his face. A smile that's almost too wide; like he was trying to overcompensate for something. He spots both kids in the bed closest to the door, Wren curled up against Riley's side, just like the last time they found themselves in this place.

"Hey, you're awake! I got great news! Doctor says you only have stay here a week, two at the most!" Reid says as he pulls the chair over to sit next to her bed.

Riley looks over to him with the same blank expression she used to stare at the wall in front of her before he walked in. It doesn't change upon seeing his grin; she can tell it's not genuine. She looks down at the floor, trying to hide the pain in her eyes. After awakening an hour or so ago, she's spent the entire time lost in her thoughts.

She sighs and shifts, trying to sit up without bothering her brother sleeping beside her. The movement sends pain through her ribcage, despite the morphine pumping through her veins. She grimaces, the physical pain etched across her face.

"Hey take it easy, Riley. You just got out of surgery." His smile fades and is replaced with concern.

"My regular doctor was working with God, wasn't he?" She croaks out quietly, not acknowledging anything he's said up to this point. Her throat raw from the sleep, the medicine, and the abuse, she grunts trying to get it some moisture.

Reid hesitates, looking into her eyes. He can't lie to her, but he doesn't want to upset her either. He shakes his head and looks to her bedside table. "Here, have some water. Sounds like you need it."

She reaches out for the mug and takes a few tentative sips until her throat feels better. Not good, but better. "That wasn't a no, Reid." Her eyes pierce his with that omniscient look she wears so well.

"Riley, do we really need to talk about this right now?" He begs. "Let's just focus on getting better and…"

She gives a sardonic snort, "It all makes sense now…that's why I haven't seen him since I've been in here. And how God knew where to find us; Hotch said it in the hallway that day. And how God knew I was out of the hospital after he kidnapped me a year ago. I…I can't believe I missed it this whole time…"

"There's nothing you could have done. There was no way you could have known. We didn't even have an inkling until…"

"How could you guys have known? You didn't know him like I did. I should have seen it. I trusted him." Her eyes start to gloss over, threatening tears. "He helped me get better. He spent _months_ helping me. And it was all for what? To just sell me out in the end like that?"

"It turns out he cheated on his medical board exams. He should never have been licensed as a doctor. Somehow Elizabeth knew this and used it to blackmail him. He was being coerced this entire time."

A few silent tears break free and roll down her cheeks. Her hands shake against the mug of water. "Then why did he act like he cared so much about me? I think that's the part that hurts the most."

Reid grabs the mug and puts it back on the table before grabbing her hands and giving them a reassuring squeeze. "I wish I could answer that for you, but you and I both know we may never know. The thing I can tell you though, is that it's all over. He's been arrested and he'll be spending years, if not the rest of his life behind bars for accessory to crimes and medical forgery."

Riley nods slowly, accepting this information as some-what reassuring.

"And if you're so set on talking about the undesirable things now, there's something else you should know." He takes a moment to pause and read her quizzical, but prepared face, before continuing. "After we dropped you guys off at the safe house we went back to your foster home because we thought they might go there. Hotch and I talked to your foster mom, Riley…"

"You what? Reid, why would you do that?" She lets go of his comforting hands as anger and fear fill her mind.

"Why didn't you tell me she kicked you out months ago? I knew it was rough for you in that house, but I didn't know it was this bad. You know you're always welcome at my place."

"I didn't want your pity. I don't want to take advantage of everything you're offering."

"I offer it because I care about you, Riley. I want you to be safe." He pauses. "And from what I hear, you have someone else to lookout for now too." He glances over at the sleeping Wren.

She swipes a hand over her face in quiet frustration, "So she told you everything, I take it. I don't…I don't know what we're gonna do now." She stares down to the floor in shame and deep thought.

"Riley. Look at me. I'm not kidding when I say you can stay at my place. Both of you. We can figure something out here, alright? But please, bring him to stay with me. Both of you please stay with me."

"Are you sure? I don't want us to be in the way."

"I insist. I want you both there." He smiles and squeezes her shoulder gently. "And we both know I'm rarely there anyway. I think the house might actually get its full use if you two come stay there."

She turns her mouth up in a half smile. "Thanks, Reid. This means a lot."

A moment passes as Riley speaks up again, "So you met the lady who runs my foster home. What'd you think?" With a cheesy, fake smile on her face.

"Oh wow, she's…"

"A real charmer, right? Yeah"

"She said you 'got lippy' with her and that it was so insulting that's why she kicked you out."

"Well I'd say that's a little subjective. Although I think if I said 'subjective' to her she would consider that 'getting lippy' so really I think we both know why we're here."

"By the time we left I think I might have started to get a little lippy with her myself. I left speechless."

"No way! Speechless? That's very unlike her."

"It's true," Hotchner cuts in as he enters the room followed by the rest of the team. "I practically had to drag him away from the house and back to the car." The group files in to stand behind Reid.

"No!" Riley exclaims with a wide smile. Her first genuine smile in a day. A smile that all the agents in the room find infectious. She imagines Reid going off on her foster mom; viewing it as a spectacle she wished she could have been there to witness. "You were that mad about her kicking me and Wren out over a little conversation?"

"Among other things." He reaches up and brushes the bruise that formed on Riley's forehead where her head met the foster home doorframe days earlier. Her smile fades.

She looks into Reid's eyes to confess, "That time after I got out of the hospital the first time and you came home to me on your couch, I lied to you. I did go back to my foster home first and I was going to stay there, but I fell asleep getting Wren to sleep and she found me. We're not supposed to sleep co-ed so she kicked me out that night." She takes a deep breath before continuing, "You asked why I had a fat lip and I told you I just slept on it funny. I lied to you." She looks down at her hands. "I'm sorry."

Reid gives her a small smile and grabs her hands again, "hey. It's okay. I understand. It never has to happen again. You're safe now. Wren's safe now. Neither of you ever have to go back there or see her ever again."

"Thanks, Reid…and I am really sorry for lying to you all those times."

"It's okay, Riley. Really." He gives her a reassuring smile.

"You know, Riley, you've been through a lot this last year and a half. More than we ever even knew about. And I don't think anyone's ever told you this, but we're proud of you. Lesser men could not have…" Morgan steps forward to say.

_Proud of you…proud of you…proud of you._ _His _words echo through her mind, tuning out everything else he's saying. Her eyes widen, her body goes rigid, and her heart rate spikes. "P…please don't say that."

"Riley? What's wrong?" Reid asks, looking up at her monitor.

"That was…that was the last thing He said. He looked me in the eyes and said 'you're just like me now. I'm proud of you'. I can't…I don't want to think about it." She closes her eyes. "I think I'm gonna puke. Reid, get me a bin or something. I'm gonna be sick."

"Riley take some deep breaths. You're okay. You're safe. You are not like Him. Listen to my words, Riley. You are good. You do not hurt. You help."

The quick beeps of the heart rate monitor begin to slow and she opens her eyes.

"You are not evil, Riley. You will _never_ be _anything_ like Him, understand?"

She nods gently, trying to get herself to really believe his words.


	17. Chapter 16

**1 Month Later**

The school bell echoed around the halls for the final time that day. Just as it always does. Students filter out of classrooms into the hallway; some running straight for the doors to freedom, some hitting their lockers to grab their work before leaving. Just as they always do. The same scene plays out in front of Riley, just as it does every day. A monotonous routine of go to class, eat lunch, only talk to the same three people, then leave for the day.

She reaches her locker and sighs._ It's almost painful how boring this is. I hate these classes. I hate these people. I hate this place. I hate this whole city. I'm only here because of Him. He might be dead, but that's not stopping Him from still ruining my life._

Opening her locker, she grabs her backpack and starts loading it with books and binders to keep her entertained later. She thinks about her night ahead. A small smile stretches across her face. _I guess everything here isn't all bad. I have Wren. We have a roof over our heads where we're not constantly terrorized. We have food to eat._

Her smile fades and she sighs again._ But if that's all it takes to be happy, why aren't I happy? Why can't I stop remembering Him everywhere I go? Why don't I fit in here?_

She shuts her locker and gets ready to follow the dwindling crowd out the doors, but someone stands in her way. An average girl, medium build, medium height, very pretty face, stands in front of Riley. Her mouth stops half open like she's about to say something, but instead she's frozen to the spot.

Confused, Riley asks, "Uhh, do you need something?"

Shaking her head a little, the girl blinks and closes her mouth. She reopens and stammers, "Your name is Riley, right?"

"Um, yeah? Do I know you?"

"No, but we have something in common. I saw you in the gym that day Molly stopped you and asked about your leg." The mysterious girl goes on.

"Listen. I'm sorry I dove into my whole life story there. I don't want anyone's pity, I just…"

"I'm not here for that. I saw what you have on your side. Not the bullet hole."

"I…I…I don't know what you're talking about." Riley adjusts her backpack and turns to leave.

"I saw because I have one too." The other girl raises her voice to catch Riley's attention before she's too far gone. It works. Riley turns to see the girl lifting the corner of her shirt to reveal a branding mark with the letters G.O.D.

Riley's mouth hangs open and she's caught speechless for a moment as she walks back toward the girl.

"How…why…"

"I used to talk to Him because I had something He wanted. My dad is a very powerful man, with impressive bank accounts and assets. He wanted my help in getting the codes so He could have all of this money. I was young and he was nice and supportive. My dad never paid enough attention to me, and He did. So I tried getting into my dad's computer, but I kept failing. He did this to me to remind me that I had a goal, a mission to complete for someone else, so I could not fail again. The next time I got into my dad's computer he came in and caught me. He asked why I was doing this and at first I was stubborn and played innocent. I didn't want to sell Him out ya know?" The girl looks up at Riley while wringing her hands.

Riley nods encouraging her on. "What did He do when He found out you failed?"

"I never reported back to him. My dad touched my side when he went to pick me up to talk to me and I winced. He noticed the burn and I confessed everything to him. I was so upset with how He would react when I didn't return with what He wanted that my dad moved us here so He wouldn't be able to find us. I haven't seen Him since so I guess it worked."

"That's weird that He gave up that easily…when did all of this happen?"

"I was about 8 I think when He first approached me, and we moved when I was 9."

"He approached us around the same time, but He let you go…" _He didn't need her like He needed me…He could find loads of money anywhere else, He didn't need to follow her around. But, me? He said it Himself, I was too perfect…I was what He needed and what He hated all wrapped up into one nice little package._

"And I'm thankful every day He did. I don't know what I would have done if He had followed us here."

Riley gives a little snort and a smirk as she looks down at herself. "This is what He does if He follows you somewhere."

The girl's mouth falls open, "He…He did all of that to you? Wh…Why?"

"I was like you, I ended up not wanting to give Him what He sent me to get. I had secrets He wanted bad enough to do this. At least, He did until I was what He wanted."

"I'm so sorry." She grabs Riley's hand in comfort.

Riley looks down at their hands and gives the girl a half smile. "It's alright. He…He can't hurt anyone anymore." She looks up into this stranger's eyes as tears threaten to leak out of her own. "He's dead. I killed Him."

The girl's mouth drops open and she lets go of Riley's hand. Riley shoots her gaze down to the floor, scared as to what this girl's reaction will be. Suddenly, arms wrap around Riley and hold her tight. A few seconds pass and Riley puts her arms around the girl too.

She's surprised when she hears the girl's voice close to her ear, "You made this world a better place." The girl pulls away, but holds Riley at arms length. "I mean that. He was…He was honestly evil. It's better that He's dead. Thank you."

Riley gives the girl another half smile. "I'm just glad it's all over." Riley doesn't talk about the emotional toll His death has played on her. The feelings of anger, depression, regret, self-loathing that she's felt since she pushed the gun toward his body and the trigger was pulled. But hearing this girl's words brings in new feelings surrounding His death: comfort, and a small sense of pride to be able to tell this girl she was truly safe again.

With a final smile, Riley says her goodbye to this kind stranger. She makes her way through the building and opens the doors to the outside world. Beams of light warm her face as a warm breeze, rare for this late fall weather, brushes past her. That feeling of comfort, this stranger gave her makes Riley think. She scrunches up her face in deep thought as she walks over to the elementary school to meet Wren. A rejuvenating sense of hope casts a new perspective on the idea of Riley's future. She begins to feel how free she is now. She feels light; like she could do anything. She wants to chase this feeling of happiness and an idea forms in her mind.

Riley sees Wren on a bench straight ahead and hurries to sit down next to him with a wild smile on her face. "Wren!" She sounds breathless with excitement. "Are you happy here?"

He looks back at her, confused. "What…what do you mean, Riley? Like here on this bench?"

"No, no, like with our lives here in D.C.?"

He hesitates, thinking, before he answers, "I don't know…I guess so? I like living with Reid now, it's a lot better than our foster home. Although he isn't home that much…and I think about that home a lot, and the people, like Justin…"

"So what you're saying is, you could be happier?"

"Why are you asking me all these questions, Riley? Are you happy?"

"If I'm being honest, Wren. No." Her smile fades and she looks down in deep thought. "Since we got back from the safe house all I can think about is all the bad stuff that's happened since I've been here. Sure there was plenty of good. I met you, didn't I?" She nudges his shoulder and they both smile. "And I like living with Reid too, but it is…empty, ya know?"

"So you're not happy?" He presses, confused why she brought this up.

"It's not that I'm unhappy, but yeah, I'm not happy. I just feel numb. Like I can't feel. I think it's this place. I don't…I don't feel alive here anymore. I'm going through the same routines that I have for months, but so much has changed and I can't ignore what's changed, but I don't want to keep reliving everything that's happened either. I need…something that's…fresh, new, a good different, but not too different."

"You don't want to be here anymore?" Wren asks trying to keep up with her train of thought.

"No, but I have an idea. It's gonna be hard; like really hard. It's gonna take a lot of planning and a decent amount of work from the both of us." She looks into his crystal blue eyes full of young wonder. "Are you up for it?"

Wren wraps his arms around her. "I'll be happy wherever you're happy." Riley returns his hug and smiles as she rests her head on his.


	18. Epilogue

Another case. Another case where the team saved the victim just in time. This man had already claimed the lives of three children. Luring them out of their homes at night, killing them elsewhere, and dropping them the next day at their families' doorsteps. It was gruesome. And it hit home for several of the agents. To have their own children snatched right out from under the same roof, then murdered, broke all of their hearts. For Hotch and J.J. though, they could feel the desire to catch this criminal burn deeper as they thought of their own children.

Reid felt a passion to catch this killer more than he had ever before when a child killer was involved. He looked at the victims and he saw Wren, snatched from Reid's own home. A need to protect he hadn't felt before. He had never felt like a parent until Riley and Wren started living with him. Riley had been staying with Reid most of the time before this, but she was older and more independent; and Reid didn't really know the full circumstances of her stays until recently. He cared for her and would do anything for her, but having Wren around was…different. A good different, he decided. Wren's younger than Riley; he's more naïve, more innocent, and he needs more care. Wren has spent his entire life in bad home situations with bad caregivers, and Reid wants to show him that life isn't as bad as he's always had it.

So far, it felt like he was successful; Reid felt like he was giving him the home he needs. The boy looks well-fed and clean for the first time since Reid has known him. Most importantly though, Wren always seems happy. He smiles thinking about it as he drives home late after the case. Picturing Wren sitting on the couch, contently reading. The three of them eating dinner at the table, Wren laughing over a silly thing Riley said.

He parks the car at his house and gathers his things. His heart feels full. The team did the best they could with this case. They made a difference. He looks to his home. _And I make a difference here._

The house is dark. The kids must be asleep. Entering the front door, he sees a light on at the kitchen counter. He shuts the door softly so it doesn't disturb the other residents. Placing his bags down on the couch, he walks toward the kitchen.

His heart that felt so full just moments before, drops down into his stomach as he recognizes Riley's writing. He grabs the paper and collapses into a stool at the counter to read the letter in its entirety.

_Reid,_

_I'm sorry. I'm sorry for putting you and the team at risk all this time. Whether I meant to or not, there's no denying that your lives are safer without me nearby. I can't erase what I've learned, but I can leave and stop learning; I can stop endangering your lives with every conversation we share, every minute I'm in your presence. God may be gone, but that won't stop the next guy with a vendetta against one or all of you from using me to get to you. It's better if I'm nowhere near any of you anymore. It's safer for everyone._

_I'm sorry for any pain that I've caused you and everyone else on the team. I know there were times you were hurt because of me. Whether physically, mentally, emotionally, or whatever, I know you've suffered because of me._

_I'm sorry most of all for doing this to you, Reid. For breaking your heart like this, for making you care about us, and then being the one to hurt you._

_I never ever meant to, but I've put you all at risk and that's something that can't happen again. That's why we have to go. I thought we could make this work. I thought with them both gone we'd be safe and could live our happy little fairy-tale ending lives. Wren and I have loved staying with you, we really did. You've done nothing but care for us with your whole heart. And that's why it breaks mine knowing we have to leave. Living here, in this city, reliving painful memories day after day is becoming unbearable for both of us; we can't live like this anymore. We can be happier. I hope someday you understand why I've made this decision and forgive me for the pain that I've caused you._

_Please don't look for us and try to bring us back. That will just make this harder than it has to be. Please trust me. I have a plan for us; it's what we need and it's gonna work. I promise. I'm doing this for all of us._

_If you do need to find us, I know you'll be able to. You know me better than I know myself. You have since Day 1._

_With nothing but love,_

_Riley and __**Wren** _**_Bye Reid! I'll miss you!_**

A tear falls next to their names. _I hope I understand someday too, Riley._


End file.
